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AFM Magazine

AFM Magazine


The Truth About Recruiting

by: David Purdum
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There is no doubting Ed Orgeron's passion for recruiting.. Just ask his former boss, Pete Carroll.

But, unfortunately for Orgeron, his recruiting abilities didn't translate into victories during his three-year tenure at Ole Miss.

He was fired Nov. 25, just a few months after Bruce Feldman's book "Meat Market" was published and shortly after this article was written.

Plenty can still be learned from Orgeron's relentless recruiting efforts, which Feldman reveals in "Meat Market." For example, how opening up your program can help in recruiting.

When it comes to recruiting, Ed Orgeron never runs out of gas. Well, almost never. It doesn't matter if he's selling USC, Ole Miss or Nicholls State; he's always been a tireless, hyper pre-dawn-to-post-dusk recruiter.

In 1989, Orgeron was a 28-year-old assistant at Miami. Stuffed inside his little blue Chevy, he was a proud South Florida recruiting buzzsaw. One Friday, he had visions of hitting a couple of high schools in West Palm Beach, before hightailing it through Alligator Alley to check out a game in Clewiston.

Overly fired up and in a mad rush, he was on a coffee diet that day. But food wasn't the only thing Orgeron forgot. "I'm in Alligator Alley and just can't wait to get to the game," he recalled. "I was so excited to be recruiting that I never checked the gas. I ran out of gas." Orgeron hopped out and began to walk, in the dark, in desolate Alligator Alley. Eventually, he caught a ride and made it to the game.

Afterwards, he approached Clewiston head coach Al Morrell and told him that his car had broken down. "Coach Morrell said he had some guys going that way with some tools and asked me what I thought was wrong with it," Orgeron remembered. "I said, 'bring a couple wrenches, and, you know what coach, maybe bring some gas.' "

It's this kind of passion and humility that made ESPN the Magazine senior writer and noted author Bruce Feldman approach Orgeron about his latest book, the recruiting tell-all "Meat Market." In the secretive, ultra-competitive and often vicious world of recruiting, Orgeron allowed Feldman unlimited access to his recruiting philosophies at Ole Miss. Feldman was by Coach O's side on recruiting visits, meetings and in the locker room. He knew what text messages were going in and out. He knew about which recruit's father was raising fighting roosters. He knew which recruits the coaches believed were overrated and which ones they thought were backing away from their verbal commitments. He knew how hard Orgeron and his staff worked, because Coach O allowed him to deeply penetrated the Rebels' program with little to no resistance. "I kept on waiting for the athletic director or school official to tap me on the shoulder and say that I couldn't be here for this or couldn't sit on this meeting," said Feldman, "but it never happened."

Orgeron's reasoning for allowing Feldman unlimited access is simple. He's proud. His recruiting prowess during his seven years at Southern California was obviously successful. Trojan head coach Pete Carroll says Orgeron is the best recruiter he's ever been around, adds Feldman.

And while Orgeron had limited on-field success at Ole Miss, he believes in his system and says it's only a matter of time before things turn around in Oxford or at the next stop in his career. "He's OK with people seeing how rough it was and how much they struggled early on," said Feldman. "Because he is so confident that eventually it's going to turn around. He kept saying it was going to be an amazing story once they get it rolling."

So why wouldn't Orgeron open up his programs and share his tactics with anyone interested? He has no secrets. His strategy is simply to out-work and be more organized and passionate than his competitors on the recruiting trail. That includes being more reliable and more genuine than his rivals.

Recruits can expect a call from the head coach every Monday between 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

"We want to show them that we're disciplined and reliable," said Orgeron. "We want our energy and passion to be the difference. I really like what we do in recruiting. And we do it every day. Every day.

"I'm not going to say that we work harder than anybody else, but we really put a lot time into it. Throughout my career, I've worked with some really good people and in some good systems. I've kind of meshed that together in what we do.

"I thought ["Meat Market"] would be good for our program, and I trust Bruce."

ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE, WAR - AND RECRUITING

A native of rural Southern Louisiana, Orgeron is never going to come off as completely polished. His grammar's not always correct, and he readily admits to his checkered past. Neither Feldman nor Orgeron shied away from addressing the coach's past problems with alcohol. Neither did rival schools that were preparing to battle him in on the recruiting trail.

In this exert from "Meat Market," Feldman delves in to the mudslinging that followed Orgeron's hiring at Ole Miss.

"Toward the end of January 2006, Rebels staffers started hearing from high school juniors on their prospect lists who have received packets of 'information' about Ole Miss football: newspaper columns critical of the direction of the program was headed in, printouts of web postings speculation about the Rebels' shady dealings, personal attacks on Orgeron that were slanderous, veiled (and not-so-veiled) allegations of just about everything this side of devil worship in Oxford." One Louisiana high school coach even told reporters that "he used to be an Ole Miss fan, before they hired a bar-room brawler," referring to Orgeron's rough past.

At the press conference to announce his hiring, Orgeron responded to questions about his past: "All I'm going to say is this: I'm completely comfortable with the steps I've taken to correct the mistakes in my life, and they're no longer part of my daily living."

Orgeron says he wasn't concerned that the book would allow his past to brought back to the limelight. He felt it was a necessity and hoped that sharing his problems and recovery might help others struggling or facing career crisis.

"To watch him go through this, I thought would be really fascinating," said Feldman, "because you have this guy who is a really interesting character that is so driven and basically says that he's traded in one addiction, alcoholism, for another, recruiting."

"If it helps just one person to get through a tough time," Orgeron added, "then it's worth it." It's that kind of genuineness that has helped Orgeron win over recruits all over the country. What you see is what you get, and what you is see a coach excited to be recruiting. It's his lifestyle, now.

"The first time I met he was staring at me, and it kind of startled me," said Brandon Sanders, a Peachtree Ridge (Ga.) High School defensive back who committed to Orgeron in the summer. "But there was also something genuine about his handshake and how he expressed his interest in me. That wasn't my first SEC school that was interested in me. But with them, there was a sense of genuine interest."

Added Feldman, "The thing that's interesting about Orgeron to me is that he is who he is. He doesn't try to be somebody he's not. He's not worried about how something might look to someone as long as it's really him."

At least one coach has taken notice of Orgeron's cooperation with the book, and Feldman believes there are many more coaches that might realize that opening up your program can have some advantages.

Marquette basketball coach Tom Crean reached out to Feldman shortly after reading "Meat Market."

"[Crean] said he bought it for all my assistants and staff and was sending it to his brother-in-law, Jim Harbaugh," Feldman recalled the conversation he had with Crean. "He told me as a coach, it's so fascinating, I'm blown away by the access you got and some of the details you're getting into. That is the best compliment that I'll ever get about this book. It made me think that some other coaches and assistant coaches at other programs that might be interested."

"Meat Market" is available through ESPN Books, a division of ESPN Publishing.





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