Tuesday’s First Edition: Oregon-Lyles, Auburn Tigerettes & FNL

To break up the football-less doldrums of summer, I purposely avoided all 101 Network airings of “Friday Night Lights” the last three years, opting instead for the NBC replays. The choice is paying off, as the congruence between plotlines around East Dillon star quarterback Vince Howard and the myriad recruiting stories surfacing this offseason is especially prescient. It’s once again Oregon’s turn to spin the Wheel of Scandal.

AutzenZoo.com breaks down the news reported Monday that the University of Oregon would divulge details into the football program’s connection with a recruiting service. The topic was briefly hot-button this winter when celebrated Texas running back Lache Seastrunk officially signed with UO, a third Lone Star-based running back recruit affiliated with Will Lyles’ Complete Scouting Services to join the Ducks in as many years.

Like Oklahoma Tech building its pipeline into Texas via Vince’s dad, UO found a road in through Lyles.

Since February, it’s been common knowledge UO vastly exceeded payment norms for recruiting services from Lyles’ organization. Included and broken by The Register-Guard‘s Adam Jude in his report was that Lyles’ contribution to UO was terribly outdated. If that registers as odd with you, you’re not alone. Why a supposed 2011 recruiting package DVD would feature 2009 recruits is anyone’s guess. It also wouldn’t mark the first time Lyles’ actions have come into question.

Never one to shy from stirring the cauldron of controversy, Thayer Evans of FOXsports.com went on the offensive against Lyles in March, when the original allegations were still fresh. His four-part series came with a headline asking if he was “college football’s biggest danger.”

Hyperbole and headlines have gone together like peanut butter and jelly since the inception of the newspaper, and that certainly fits the bill of attention-grabbing. To suggest Lyles individually is the sport’s “biggest threat,” or that he alone is a biggest anything is overstating his impact. But looking at the entire landscape of recruiting in its current state and outlets like Complete Scouting Services as byproducts of that does raise the question if the whole recruiting scene is college football’s biggest threat.

Football players are in much different recruiting waters from athletes of other team sports. Basketball, baseball and soccer — heck, even volleyball and softball players can all join year-round traveling teams that play in tournaments seen by numerous coaches and scouts. The physical and monetary demands of football limit players to their academic seasons and the occasional skill camp. Seven-on-seven leagues have been suggested as a possible alternative, but opponents point to malfeasance in the basketball recruiting scene stemming from AAU, including collusion between club players to join prep squads.

Nevermind this is as much an issue in football, if not more so because football players are more reliant on their prep teams for exposure. This is another issue “Friday Night Lights” tackled brilliantly in its all-too short run.

Until more convenient means for being seen in the offseason sprouts, standing out in the crowd means creating video packages. Creating these packages means reliance on recruiting services. And these services provide worthwhile assistance, but like anything else are susceptible to corruption. These services can’t run without money, and if one program is willing to pay more than the rest, basic economics dictates the highest bidder the winner. Surely that’s fertile ground for misconduct, hence the NCAA intervening in this Oregon matter.

But recruiting services are just one of many, many entities profiting off youngsters who see no actual monetary compensation. A college scholarship is worth a lot no question, but few students on scholarship make the financial impact on a university big-time football players are able to. Their hard work translates to millions for recruiting services, coaches, TV executives, university presidents — I certainly can’t wag a finger of condemnation at any of them either, as someone who has been paid covering college football players.

Another cottage industry football’s big bucks have propped up is that of recruit hostesses, something SPORTSbyBROOKS dove into today at Auburn. The all-important hostess is a part of the dream sold to recruits, again imitated well on “FNL” as Vince takes his unofficial visit to O-Tech. That feeling of an Oz-like dreamland is essential to recruiting — and in many cases, essential to the recruit. The Vince Howard character with his tribulations of a broken home, addict mother and gang violence surrounding him may not characterize all recruits. Those it does though is an important case of art depicting life, astutely demonstrating a forgotten piece in all this recruiting furor: that football really is the key to a dreamland for many kids.

In the constant search for the latest scandal or demonizing of coaches, recruiters, whomever, the kids become an afterthought. Recruiting needs cleaning, but not because of these kids. Rather, for them.