Organized Chaos

National Signing Day is winding down, as every team in the country sifts through its new batch of prospects. It was relatively quiet in our area in terms of volume, but we did have four Division I signings.

Those were Bay’s Khyri Thornton and DeAndre Richardson, Arnold’s Chris Jackson and Marianna’s Bradley Battles. We also had several small-school signings. You can read all about those here.

I’m the first to admit that signings can be tedious work, if you allow them to be. Yes, the brunt of the stories is the same, but it’s always nice when you find a better story than just some kid who’s moving on to the next level.

Thornton provided some of this, as he was open about his lack of study skills. He said he liked to party at Bay and he skipped class a lot. He said getting Ds was good enough.

He soon realized it wasn’t good enough and he went to Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. This was the same place Mosley’s Enrique Davis went. There’s little doubt they came out changed men.

Thornton said the semester lasts four months and you aren’t allowed contact with your family for three months. It’s like extended boot camp. You are there to study, work out and be disciplined.

Thornton said he’s a better man for it. Now if only he had enough sense to show up with a jacket. It was funny to see a 300-pound man shiver through the first part of his signing.

Now to some thoughts on FSU’s class.

The late addition of Greg Reid, coupled with some additional signings on Wednesday helped make this class pretty good. A lot of these guys will play next season. It will be interesting to see how they pan out.

This is probably one of the most well-rounded classes for FSU that I have seen in my six years with The News Herald. They filled needs, but also provided depth for offensive line, quarterback, running back and linebacker.

The Seminoles’ overall ranking differs depending on where you look. Last I checked FSU was sixth at Rivals.com and tied for 16th at Scout.com. FSU was ahead of Florida on Rivals and one spot behind the Gators on Scout.

Put what you want into that, but it doesn’t mean the talent is that much different. Florida didn’t have as many holes to fill and the Gators don’t need many freshmen to step up early. The Gators are loaded, which isn’t the case with the Seminoles.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.