Goddammit, Ozy, will you quit forcing me to have to agree with Big M?
Even if early PT is Smith's #1 factor, that still doesn't mean he would come to
MSU over UM. And to be honest, that speaks well of Smith. I'm sure Carr has said to him, and he probably means it, that "You will have every chance to play early." All that means is that if you really work hard and are a total bad ass and can beat other, more senior guys out, you can play early. And Carr can point to Manningham and show that he is not just giving lip service. And the reason that it speaks well of Smith, is because it would mean that he has the confidence to feel that he can beat out other guys, and if he doesn't beat them out, then he needs to work harder. Honestly, that's what I want in a guy at
MSU. I don't want a guy who says, "You know, I'm going to
MSU because I don't think I'm good enough to earn early playing time somewhere else." We can be a little more objective than these kids, the coaches, and their families. We might know it's not realistic. But you can't blame a kid for having the confidence that he can beat out top notch guys.
I used to think that we had a shot at this top recruit or that top recruit because we could offer early playing time. But time after time after time, that doesn't happen. If realistic playing time was motivation for top kids, then schools like
MSU, NC State, Arizona, and a host of other mid-level BCS schools would be the ones with the Top 10 recruiting classes. Instead, it's the schools that can offer the least chance for realistic playing time that get the best kids.