For every Signing Day hit there are dozens of misses

By Mac Engel

tengel@star-telegram.com

His name very likely means nothing to you today, nor do so many just like his. In February 2003, the name James Battle meant something. Sound familiar?

Battle was a four-star recruit according to Rivals, a dual-threat quarterback who had led Denton Ryan to consecutive 4A state titles.

He signed with TCU, and was basically never heard from again because reality got in the way of can't-miss.

This morning all across the country, fax machines in college football offices will buzz with letters of intent that carry the all-important signature, and the preposterous hope that a bunch of teenagers will reverse the fortunes of a team.

"It's insane. It's insanity. It makes me want to throw up," said Denton Ryan coach Joey Florence, who was in charge when Battle was recruited and today has arguably the nation's top prize in defensive end Mario Edwards. "This is the first time since we had James and Jarvis Moss ('04) we had this much attention, and it has completely changed since then. It's not just the kids that are buying in; it's the parents and the whole communities."

Amen, sir.

Today's non-event event has become one of the most annoying and troublesome aspects of the rapid explosion of sports: Signing Day.

Here is a suggestion: When you read about your favorite college team's recruiting class today -- take it with a bag of salt.

For the sake of argument, let's keep this discussion local. There are millions of possible examples, but James Battle's name popped into my head.

Battle signed with TCU out of high school and immediately the whispers started to grow that he was struggling during his redshirt year, and he was going home a lot. After his redshirt year, he spent his freshman year with TCU, where he never got into a game. He transferred to FCS Stephen F. Austin.

James Battle's collegiate career with the Lumberjacks reads: two games, two carries for nine yards, 0 for 2 passing.

The end.

"He decided college wasn't for him, and he didn't desire to play college football any more," said Florence, who added that Battle lives in Denton. "Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't."

So many variables exist that the odds of projecting whether Battle was going to hit as a collegiate prospect are like predicting the weather for next September, only worse.

Before James Battle was even gone you/me/we moved on to the next James Battle.

Meanwhile Moss, who signed with Florida in 2004, went on to become a first-round pick of the Broncos and is now with the Oakland Raiders.

Not quite 10 years later, Florence is sitting on another can't-miss in Mario Edwards, who is expected to sign with Florida State this morning.

ESPN recently called Florence to set up a live camera shot to chronicle an event that essentially amounts to a signature on a piece of paper. What ESPN didn't realize is that Florence has six other kids who are scheduled to sign scholarship offers this morning, and he refused to make this the Mario Edwards Show.

"They were coming here to just do their deal on Mario and I said, 'That's not happening.' You [would have] thought I was Satan," Florence said. "It was a contentious phone call. These are good boys and are all good kids. If you're going to interview one, you're going to interview them all."

As I was working on this column, by coincidence the following tweet was sent to me: "@CollegeGameDay: Mario Edwards is the #1 overall player in the ESPNU 150, verbally committed to #FSU. #SIGNINGDAY"

Maybe Edwards hits and becomes another Jarvis Moss.

Maybe Edwards misses.

"It's not healthy. It's hurt our profession, and I think it's hurt yours [sports journalism], too" Florence said. "This is still an amateur sport, and the kids are getting the wrong message and that message is: It's all about me. I try to tell them, 'You are going to be in high school one time and you really need to enjoy it, and then you are going to the real world.' The ones that do [go to the next level] may not make it. Like you said -- James Battle -- great kid, loved him. He would have been a great quarterback, but his chance didn't come."

Sound familiar?

Mac Engel, 817-390-7697

Twitter: @MacEngelProf

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