Kevin Sherrington

Archive | Blog | Bio | E-mail

Ralston Dews wasn't happy when Phil Bennett got fired, but he didn't worry about it, either, which was his first mistake.

He didn't even get nervous when SMU took 71 days to hire June Jones.

And the form letter Ralston received in November telling him the new coach had right to refuse all commitments?

He didn't think anything of it. He had a letter of confirmation. He heard nothing to make him believe he wouldn't be a Mustang.

Until last week, anyway. That's when Ralston, a 6-1, 335-pound lineman from Tyler Lee, got a quickie course in today's college athletics.

Ralston won't be a member of Jones' first recruiting class. He isn't the first kid that's happened to, and he won't be the last.

This is simply "the landscape of college football," as an SMU official told Ralston's high school coach.

And the terrain will make for a rough ride for all recruits from here on out.

Here's Ralston's side: A two-year starter at Galena Park North Shore, he transferred in February to Tyler Lee, where he played offensive and defensive tackle. On Sept. 20, he committed to SMU and considered it a done deal.

Still, Ralston's father called SMU's athletic department Friday, just to make sure. An official told him Ralston "no longer fits our scheme," and said SMU wouldn't honor the commitment.

Upset, Ralston's father contacted Tyler Lee coach Mike Owens, who called SMU and got this explanation:

"Well, coach, this is just the landscape of college football now."

Of course, oral commitments are nonbinding. SMU didn't break any NCAA rules. Big 12 coaches do it. Last month, Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy reportedly told a Stephenville quarterback and a Mesquite wide receiver he wouldn't honor commitments to put them on scholarship this spring. Baylor's new coach, Art Briles, pulled an offer to South Oak Cliff's Kydarian Wilkins two weeks ago.

Commitments work both ways, too. Recruits sometimes change their minds, as teenagers are wont to do.

But we generally expect more from adults, especially representatives of institutions of higher learning.

Considering the potential pitfalls, why make early commitments in the first place? What do they mean, unless it's to give a kid a false sense of security?

Football coaches have continually rejected the alternative of an early signing period. Too many risks involved. Early signing periods are no panacea, either. Basketball coaches have them, and it doesn't stop some of them from pressuring kids to give up scholarships.

On one hand, Jones probably did Ralston a service if he wasn't going to play him. Better to find out now than spend four years regretting it.

SMU has its own regrets. When Bennett was hired, he honored Mike Cavan's commitments, which left him only four scholarships to offer.

Steve Orsini, SMU's athletic director, wasn't about to let that happen again. He wrote to recruits on Nov. 7, advising them the new coach would have the last say. At least two took the hint and looked elsewhere.

Ralston didn't, which was his second mistake. But his father shouldn't have had to call to find out. And it's not Ralston's fault SMU took so long to hire a coach, or that Jones was left with a short evaluation period.

Still, Ralston is the one who pays. With signing day two weeks away, most schools are booked up. Calls to Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston State, Northwestern (La.) State and Rice have scared up interest. But his choices are limited, and that's why he sent an e-mail to The News. He asked if we'd put his name on the de-committed list, so coaches would know he was available now that SMU won't have him.

"One day I felt great," he wrote. "Now I feel so down. I don't know what to do next. I love to play football."

College football is a big business, as we all know. But it's hard to read those plaintive words and not see what's wrong with it on a personal level.

"In the end," Orsini explained in a statement issued by SMU, "transition in a football program is never completely seamless, but we wish all these young men the best, whether they are enrolling at SMU or another fine institution."

TOM FOX / DMN

SMU announced June Jones (center) as its football coach on Jan. 7.

Owens, who's been a head coach for 25 years, says it's not so simple. Failing to honor a commitment simply isn't "good business," especially in Texas, where high school coaches are a tight group. He figures the subject will come up at their next meeting. He knows they can't do anything as an organization about a flaw in the "landscape." But it's personal now.

"SMU is not going to be welcome in my place," he said.

A small protest, maybe, but revolutions have started with less.