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Curious that Florida didn't keep the guy on their staff, just as Tennessee never showed a real interest in hiring Tee Martin (now offensive coordinator and top recruiter for Southern Cal). Maybe he will wind up as a coach for the Seminoles in the future.

"At least the Commodores aren’t sitting home alone again this year as Arkansas and LSU don’t have any ex-players in this year’s Super Bowl." Fact-checking is fundamental. Trai Turner, the Panthers' 2nd best OL, is from LSU.

They said "start", not make an impact. He will play, but please recall that UGA is bringing back all 4 starters in the secondary, and they had one of the top pass defenses in the country. Plus those returnees will be junior, redshirt junior, junior and senior. Now the guys behind them were all true freshmen (due to attrition) but they were all quality recruits too, and are also taller than Hardman. Hardman would have a better chance of making an impact on offense as UGA doesn't have that much at WR and are losing Malcolm Mitchell, but unfortunately even Hardman acknowledges that he is raw on that side of the ball and will need a couple of years to make a meaningful contribution.

This list is invalid because it omits LSU 2006. They finished 11-2, #3 in the country. Their only losses? 7-3 at 10-2 Alabama (who went 13-0 the year before) and 23-10 at 13-1 Florida (who won the national title). Having not one but TWO teams on here that lost to Memphis (1996 Tennessee, 2015 Ole Miss) is outrageous. Also, that 2006 LSU team ultimately sent more players to the NFL than any SEC team in recent history other than 2008 Florida. Also, while 2012 UGA had a 12-1 record, good luck finding anyone good that they actually beat that year. The 2003 UGA team that lost twice to LSU was better.

That UGA team beat no one better than 9-4 Auburn and 9-4 Florida all year long. They got killed by the one top 15 team they played all year, and somehow managed to lose to 7-6 South Carolina at home. Despite all that talent (like 12 guys who went on to play multiple years in the NFL) they weren't consistently dominant on either side of the ball or in any phase of the game. UGA fans really don't know what a title-contending team looks like. If winning 7 games in a row against pretty much no one of consequence makes you title-worthy, then you will have 6-7 teams who should declare themselves champions every year.

Yeah. Manning has had his shot(s) over a career that began in 1998, and on two great teams no less. Meanwhile Cam Newton is a running QB. Their careers are a lot shorter and this may be his only chance.

So Smart and Tucker liked him ... but not enough to pursue him at UGA. Pruitt would rather fill the spot with a kid that he has evaluated and recruited, even if he is another 3 star who will primarily be depth and special teams. So, if the guy who recruited you isn't there and his replacement never wanted him in the first place, what makes people so certain that a greyshirt would have been such a good idea for this kid at a school who makes it clear that they reserve the right not to renew any scholarship for anyone (and have practiced that right on more than once)? If the kid had greyshirted and Pruitt didn't recruit him, didn't want him and had nothing invested in him, what chances would he have had of getting his scholarship renewed in 2017 or 2018 if he wasn't on the two deep by then?

Auburn has 17 kids and has a good shot at several more that they really like tomorrow. So if he gets an SEC offer at all, it will be from the likes of Kentucky, Mizzou or Mississippi State. And even those guys aren't likely if he hasn't visited there and they haven't had a chance to evaluate him already.

So, all the people who get laid off from their jobs due to outsourcing should realize "it's just a business" and not complain too, right?

It wouldn't have if he had been offered as a greyshirt with an option to sign in February depending on the size of recruiting class/number of returnees to begin with. An

No you don't. Ohio State and FSU won titles in 2013 and 2014 without doing this. Ole Miss has beaten Alabama in back-to-back seasons without it. Clemson went toe-to-toe to Alabama without it, and this was with a team filled with underclassmen. Florida won 2 titles under Meyer without it also. And who knows what LSU would have accomplished without it if they had a passing offense ... lack of greyshirts isn't why Les Miles refuses to hire a competent offensive coordinator to either put in a version of the spread that actually works or else dump it entirely. And even your old enemy Auburn came 1 play from winning 2 titles without it (to speak nothing of their 13-0 season in 2004).

"A greyshirt year also would have been a good opportunity for Cole had it come to that because the chances of him seeing the field as a true freshman at Alabama were slim to none barring the Tide’s roster being decimated with catastrophic injuries in the double digits." Oh please. First off, even half of the 4 and 5 star recruits that become All-SEC or NFL prospects at Alabama redshirt or otherwise do not contribute much as true freshmen. Second, Alabama saw the same tape that you did, plus more. If it were as obvious as you say, then why not offer him as a greyshirt to start with? That is what I do not get why so many people are so quick to defend the university and the coach with stuff like this. Suppose you are offered a job for $100,000 a year and you accept it. Then when your contract is handed to you, it is for $85,000 a year. But isn't it still an opportunity to work for a great company? Yes. Isn't it a better opportunity with more money than 99% of the human population will ever get? Yes. Won't you have the opportunity to work hard, excel, prove yourself, get promoted, and leave even your initial $100,000 offer in the dust within 2 years? Yes. But that isn't the point. The point is that it isn't the deal that you originally agreed to. The fact that it is a good deal, a deal that plenty of people would take if given the opportunity, doesn't change that. People don't like "bait-and-switch." It can be construed as manipulation, taking advantage of someone, deceiving and humiliating. Look, if a coaching staff has already changed the terms of your original offer once, what keeps them from doing it again and not renewing your scholarship in a year or two? The fact that they were willing to play these games with YOU but not the other guys in the class is a direct indicator that you aren't particularly valued in the first place; that you were someone that this staff wasn't afraid to offend because they weren't afraid to lose you. So when you claim "he could have used a couple of years to develop anyway" is being disingenuous ... pretending as if Alabama was going to hand him those 2 years anyway. If they hadn't, and if had been one of the not-a-few kids whose scholarships were not renewed by Saban, and he winds up having to transfer to North Alabama (or is Jacksonville State the common destination now)? the song would change from "well he wasn't going to get on the field as a true freshman anyway so greyshirting is in his best interest" to "he was never going to get on the field anyway so going to another school where he could get some playing time and enjoy himself is in his best interests ... good luck kid, hope you get your degree and don't you dare trash the school on your way out!" Please. Stop. Just stop. It isn't "what is best for the kid" but rather what's best for Alabama to keep winning SEC titles. Because what's best for Cole would have been for either Alabama to honor the original deal that was agreed upon, or for Alabama to have never offered him - or made the greyshirt a part of his offer initially - to begin with. Lots of Alabama fans are claiming that he was likely told that a greyshirt was a possibility. I do not deny it. But instead of telling him that he would be February signee who might be asked to greyshirt, he should have been told that he was a greyshirt who might get a scholarship in February. That would have been more honest, but no one wants to go that route because everyone knows that he would have been far more likely to go elsewhere - or at least delayed his commitment - if that had been sold to him. And that is bad, because it is in Alabama's interest to have this kid in their back pocket for February in case they do actually need him (or in case he grows 2 inches, adds 25 lbs while retaining the same speed/explosiveness and/or exhibits much better coverage or blitzing skills in his senior year) and to change his commitment to a greyshirt - knowing that there is a 75% chance that he will get the message and go elsewhere on his own, freeing up a spot for another player - if he doesn't. Which gets back to my original point: it isn't about what gives this kid the best chance to play at Alabama or anything else concerned with the kid's interest. It is about what gives Alabama the best chance to sign the best possible class regardless of what happens to this kid. I just wish that the fans - and the SEC media - were to come out and admit it.