Per Tj responding to a post about accepting other kids decommitting to ND why wouldn't we feel the same about Barnett leaving for Oregon. Great stuff here and obviously makes me wonder how F'ing pissed BK is at this kid.
Regarding the bottom line, perhaps it isn't much different. I get that. Nature of the beast these days, sadly.
But you will appreciate, sjb, that the real difference lies in the how and when of the process, and it's dynamics, rather than the mere bottom line of what, or even why. Recruiting a QB today is VASTLY different than recruiting numbers at any other position, and that's for both the school and the kid/family. When you enter into a joint agreement, explicitly understood by both sides, not to continue recruiting as a QB commitment is made and accepted, there are all sorts of tangible consequences for both sides if that agreement is broken. Especially if broken in the manner and at a critical time such as this one.
There isn't a coach or staff or program in America that wouldn't agree with this concept of the inherent uniqueness of QB recruiting today, given how things work here. Saban was rightly pissed at Town, and BK is right to be pissed at Barnett and family. LBs or others -- it's simply next man in. QBs -- not nearly. And especially problematic, again, in the when (during a quiet period now, right ahead of our crucial camp/visit period) and, even moreso, in the how it went down.
It's time to move on, and we're doing so. But in this case, uniquely, it's a problem and not easy to overcome. Somehow, though, we will.
