The purpose of this rant is not to bash these die hard recruiting fans or even give a run down of Miami's recruits (although I will in a few weeks). This rant is a story about one particular recruit. This recruit's story is as bizarre as they come. His name is Jonathan Colon. He is an offensive lineman that is 6'7" tall and wieghs close to 300 pounds. Considered by many "recruiting gurus" to be one of the best high school offensive lineman in the country. He is from Miami, Florida and has grown up a Hurricane fan. So, obviously, the Canes were a clear cut favorite to win his services. Unfortunately, like with many other talented recruits, other teams wanted him as well. One of those teams was/is the Florida Gators. Why would he choose the Gators? Well, Steve Spurier (head coach of the Gators) told Colon that he could play right away if he chose Florida. Miami's coach Butch Davis told him that he was going to have to win a starting a job. It didn't take Colon long to realize, with alittle help from Mr. Spurrier, that there were several o-linemen on the Canes already and he probably wasn't going to get to play for a few years. The bottom line in all of this is Butch was honest with the kid and Spurrier, who has no intention of starting him, told him what he wanted to hear. Call me biased all you want to, but when was the last time Florida started a true freshman anywhere? So a dilemma for Colon - go to your favorite team and sit or go to a team that says you will start. Mixed in all of this was his parents and his high school coaching staff. His mom, wanting to see him play right away, was desperate to have him go to Florida. His dad wanted him to stay and play for Miami. His coaching staff, all friends of Spurrier, where pushing him hard towards Florida. So this is where he stood heading in to his senior year of high school. Here is a look at the next 5 months and the decisions he makes regarding his future:
Early Fall 1999: Colon announces that he wants to go to Miami. He also says he will not make any visits anywhere
October 1999: Colon decides he will make some visits. He states that he know is considering Tenn. and Miami.
November 1999: He has yet another change of heart. Tenn. is no longer an option and Miami no longer leads. He is know considering Florida, Miami, and Auburn.
November 22, 1999: After a trip to Auburn, he declares that the Florida Gators are now his favorite.
November 23, 1999: Florida lasts all of one day as his leader, his new team is the Ohio State Buckeyes.
December 16, 1999: A new month, a new leader - back to the Florida Gators.
December 20, 1999: Alabama and Mississippi both enter the Jonathan Colon sweepstakes. He still maintains the Gators are the team to beat.
January 3, 2000: In a bold statement, Colon declares, "I am down to Miami, Florida, or Miami - one of those 3". I am just pleased he managed to pronounce everything correctly.
January 10, 2000: He decides he has no leader and is qoute, "wide open".
January 18, 2000: Back to being between Miami and Florida.
January 25, 2000: He verbally commits to the Miami Hurricanes.
It is important to realize that verbal commitments are not binding in anyway.
January 26, 2000: He backs out of his commitment to Miami and verbally commits to Florida. He says he has to get out of the city.
January 26, 2000: 2 hours after commiting to Florida, Colon decides he wants to take a trip to the campus at Miami and will decide then. Bear in mind he is from Miami and has seen the campus hundreds of times.
January 27, 2000: Tells everyone that he is going to wait until Feb. 2 (signing day) to make a final decision.
January 31, 2000: Verbally commits to the Miami Hurricanes.
February 1, 2000: He once again backs out of his commitment to Miami and verbally commits to the Florida Gators.
February 1, 2000: Later that same afternoon, he changes his mind again and verbally commits to the Miami Hurricanes.
This is where Jonathan Colon stood when he woke up signing day morning. Around 8 am he decides he does not want to be a Florida Gator and his heart tells him to play for the Hurricanes. So he signs his Letter of Intent (LOI) to Miami. Unlike a verbal commitment, a LOI is binding, it is just like a contract. He goes to school and has a 10:45 am press conference to announce his decision. When he gets to school, his high school coaching staff pulls him aside and sits him in a room for two hours where they try to convince him to go to Florida. His mom has brought LOI from the Gators and wants him to sign it. At 10:45, a very depressed Colons signs his LOI and sends it off to Gainesville. At 11:15 am he faxes his LOI to the Miami Hurricane coaching staff. So now the problem is two programs have both gotten what amounts to a contract from the kid. The governing law of the NCAA states that whatever LOI was signed first is the binding one. So now Colon is property of the Miami Hurricanes, but wait the story doesn't end there. Steve Spurrier, as you can guess, is none to happy to learn of this change of events and plans to fight it. His mom, who still wants him to be a Gator, comes out and announces that a woman from Miami visited her house the night before and had told them to sign some papers that were "scholarship forms" for the University of Miami. Since Colon was undecided she signed them. Well, according to his mom, these forms weren't scholarship applications at all, but rather the LOI to Miami. She was duped you see. Colon didn't sign the LOI to Miami at 8 am on February 2, but rather 10 pm on February 1. Which is a no-no, that means the LOI is void because nobody can sign a LOI until 7 am on signing day (February 2). So if this is true, his mom gets her wish and he is a Florida Gator. Now Butch Davis is laughing at this scenario. He has no clue as to what woman showed up at the Colon's door that night. Colon's mom's story sounds pretty far-fetched to me. What mother just starts signing papers regarding her son when she has no clue as to who the person is presenting the papers is or what the papers pertain too? Jonathon Colon disapeared until this afternoon when he stated he wanted to play for the Florida Gators. SO the next step in this whole process is to present it to the NCAA for a final ruling. Guess who is the chairman of that committee? The head of the SEC (Southeastern Athletic Conference), the conference that the Florida Gators are a part of.
Awwwwweee all part of the fun that is college football recruiting. I'll let you know what happens.
UPDATE
This story came to an end of sorts when D.J. Williams (that nation's number 1 defensive prospect) decided to be a Miami Hurricane. Butch Davis released Colon from his LOI and he was free to be a Florida Gator without penalty.
See ya in the PIT!!!!
