As much as I’m a fan of college football, every once in a while a story pops up that just makes me shake my head in disbelief, whether for good or bad.
Sometimes, a story is simply so unbelievable, so shocking, so incredible, so bizarre, it almost transcends the sport itself. Joe Paterno, Johnny Manziel and Manti Te’o have all elicited the above reaction from me. And now, a new name has been added to that list: Dylan Moses.
Dylan is apparently a highly sought after recruit and currently has scholarship offers from LSU and Alabama. He’s a 6-foot-1, 215-pound man-child out of Baton Rouge, La.
He’s had experience on both sides of the ball but looks to be a running back at the next level. And by next level, I don’t mean college – I mean high school.
That’s right. Alabama has offered a 14-year-old eighth grader a football scholarship. If Dylan can keep up his performance, he’ll have a place to stay with Alabama – in the year 2017.
We all know recruiting can get out of hand at times. Fans and media treat teenagers like celebrities. They follow their every move and decision religiously. Recruits essentially have their own paparazzi in the form of recruiters.
And all this attention is given to a kid whose biggest worry should be who he should ask out to prom. But this story takes the cake of craziest recruiting story, hands down.
I guess this is just the next step in the evolution of the nature of recruiting. The game of football is ever-evolving, and coaches and programs need bigger, faster and stronger players who can keep up with the system. It makes sense that coaches would do whatever it takes to make sure they have a competitive edge over their opponents.
It looks like the next step in maintaining that edge is offering as early as possible to elite talent when you have the chance. Even if that talent has yet to take a high school class.
And it’s not as if Alabama head coach Nick Saban has a history of making bad choices when it comes to recruiting. It’s just that he typically likes to take more time evaluate potential recruits before offering them a scholarship. He must have seen some serious potential to offer Dylan a scholarship at such an early age.
Maybe this is a story that won’t make much noise. After all, in a few years, Dylan will be at the point in his high school career when everyone will be gunning for him. And who’s to say he won’t live up to that potential? Maybe he’ll become one of the next college football greats.
I guess the main question this development brings up is: at what age is it too early to give this kind of attention to a kid? I guess only time will tell, but we’ll be keeping an eye out on Dylan to see how it works out – fans, coaches, recruiters, media and all.
Leading in today’s Crimson White:
Williams working to prove he belongs in the NFL
Alabama women’s basketball team working to improve for next season
Alabama women’s tennis team’s grit and chemistry contribute to success
