Macon County star linebacker Roquan Smith announces he is attending UCLA during a national signing day event at the school's gymnasium on Feb. 4, 2015, in Montezume, Ga. And that's the opinion of those who follow it for a living.
"Eventually, the audience is going to lose taste for this completely," said JC Shurburtt, the national recruiting director for 247Sports.com. "It's going to be like reality TV or professional wrestling with the same characters over and over."
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Most of the nation's elite 2015 signees committed to schools months ago and signed this past Wednesday with very little fanfare. Alabama's No. 1 class even was considered boring to some because it was devoid of 11th-hour drama.
Tennessee had some comings (tackle Drew Richmond) and goings (running back Kendall Bussey) late in the process, while Georgia had the most chaotic finish of Mark Richt's 15 years in Athens. The Bulldogs signed three players who had decommitted from them in recent weeks, and they are still holding out hope for in-state linebacker Roquan Smith, who announced Wednesday on ESPNU that he would be signing with UCLA but has yet to send in his letter of intent.
"I don't know if I'm patient or if any coaching staff is patient," Richt said when asked how he gets through recruiting each year. "You don't have a lot of control, so I guess you don't have a choice. I guess we are patient because we don't have any control, but I can't say there isn't a lot of emotion that goes in it from us, too. There is a lot of time invested and a lot of travel that goes into building relationships over time.
"Sometimes you get them and sometimes you don't, and I don't think anybody goes through recruiting season without having that excitement of getting the ones you want but also experiencing some tough things, too."
While coaches throughout the SEC and other power five conferences may forever have to hang on the annual prospect or two announcing his decision on ESPNU, Shurburtt believes the coverage leading up to signing day needs a good cleansing.
"We're going to have to be more honest and call an ace an ace," Shurburtt said. "We've got to forget this notion that these kids deserve some sort of national spotlight and deserve to have eight schools in the mix and lead on these fan bases as well as coaches who provide for their families. We're well-sourced enough now to where we can narrow it down to one or two schools."
As an example, Shurburtt cited a recent Bleacher Report story that broke down the top six schools being considered by Iman Marshall of Long Beach, Calif. The nation's top cornerback prospect, Marshall was projected by every major analyst to sign with Southern California, which he did this past Wednesday.
Marshall, incidentally, announced he was signing with the Trojans through a music video.
"It's a fallacy that Iman Marshall was considering more than two schools, and there was probably just one in the mix for his services," Shurburtt said. "So was it fair to those other four schools and the fans of those schools to be intellectually dishonest and lead them on? That's not necessarily Bleacher Report's fault, but it's kind of the disconnect between the reality of what people know and the reality of reporting.
"We don't need to say a kid has six schools in the mix when it's really only one or two. That's wrong, and it's really a lie. It's not serving anyone, particularly the student-athlete, to have these LeBron-style type of announcements when there is really no news or mystery."
Even if recruits head to signing day choosing between two schools instead of five or six, there are certain to be ceremonies to remember. Three of the nation's top 10 prospects this winter hailed from Florida, yet only Apopka tackle Martez Ivey had a smooth experience Wednesday when he committed and signed with the in-state Gators.
Byron Cowart, a defensive end from Armwood, committed to Auburn on ESPNU but did not send his letter of intent for seven hours, while Glen Saint Mary defensive end CeCe Jefferson committed to Florida and still hasn't faxed his paperwork.
"It seems like every year you flip on TV, and there's more switching and all that," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said Wednesday in a news conference. "I'm very proud of our staff, and not just this year but really the last two years. Once a guy commits to us, we've had very few people decommit, and I would probably put our record up against any other team in college football.
"I think that definitely says a lot about our coaches and our program, and the goal is to continue that."
A goal that may be easier said than done if some unnecessary elements to today's recruiting environment remain.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.