Non-Ole Miss Fan Godfrey has an interview with an SEC Bag Man....
- Thread starter Faustdog
- Start date
I was always told that every school in every conference does this at some level. The only difference is all of the schools in the SEC turn each other in to the NCAA for doing it. Makes us look kin'da dumb doesn't it....
The part where he said a booster stopped paying because the coach
used the lord's name in vein on an airplane tells me it's one of the schools in mississippi.
used the lord's name in vein on an airplane tells me it's one of the schools in mississippi.
This could've been any coach from the last 10-20 years. Nowhere in the article did the bagman say that it was a recent coach.
Since Godfrey kept things anonymous, let me fill in a few blanks from the first paragraph...
The player rated No.1 at his position nationally - Nkemdiche
The town - Oxford
The restaurant - Somewhere on the square
The bag man - Who knows... there are too many to count up there
If nothing else, I've gained a little bit more insight regarding exactly how OM has been doing it over the years
The player rated No.1 at his position nationally - Nkemdiche
The town - Oxford
The restaurant - Somewhere on the square
The bag man - Who knows... there are too many to count up there
If nothing else, I've gained a little bit more insight regarding exactly how OM has been doing it over the years
I think you are correct. I was interviewed.
I thought they meant Brown Bag Special though. The interview ended quickly after.
I thought they meant Brown Bag Special though. The interview ended quickly after.
I thought Nkeuislfhrfls was the #1 recruit, period? He says at his position, so Treadwell perhaps?
Ours would've taken a cell phone photo of him handing the cash to said recruit, then post it on Facebook as proof to the boosters that said recruit got the cash.
Great article and spot on. I think most people will be surprised by how low the
normal payments are most of the time. In 90 plus percent of the cases it just spending money. The very rare exceptions are the superstars that demand 180K* to sign and then are maintenance nightmares. Big recruits usually have uncles that buy them cars, that's pretty common.
I was surprised there was no mention of preachers/churches as the belief was that was the preferred method for a certain unnamed school. Supposedly the churches got nice donations and things got handled.
normal payments are most of the time. In 90 plus percent of the cases it just spending money. The very rare exceptions are the superstars that demand 180K* to sign and then are maintenance nightmares. Big recruits usually have uncles that buy them cars, that's pretty common.
I was surprised there was no mention of preachers/churches as the belief was that was the preferred method for a certain unnamed school. Supposedly the churches got nice donations and things got handled.
No doubt, but there is also little doubt in my mind that the vast majority(perhaps all) were OM boosters. Why in the world would a bag man of another university agree to sit down with a U of M grad in order to explain how they land recruits? Of course, one could also argue why any bag man would do that, but if Godfrey truly does have connections to get someone to do it, you can rest assured that it was an OM booster. The only real question is which of their recruits were being mentioned in the article.
I'll give you 5:1 odds you're wrong
and knowing Godfrey, there's a solid chance a lot of these are Bama folk.
and knowing Godfrey, there's a solid chance a lot of these are Bama folk.
Haven't been around in a while, figured this article would be here...
Since this is the only MSU site where I can post, I thought I'd post my thoughts here, since I figure there will be a good discussion here.
I have a family member that is not one of these bag men. He's one of the $50,000+ a year, jacket guys described in the article, though he's not the big dicking type like the Bag Man described. The reason I say that is to say that he knows about this layer of boosters, and they do talk, and they do each know what the other school's Bag Men are doing for players.
Anyway, he told me right after the Redmond deal went to the NCAA that the ONLY reason you were getting in trouble is because you went through the wrong guy in Memphis.
In other words, whoever the booster was wasn't your Bag Man for the Memphis area, and he got loose with his activity, because he didn't know what he was doing, and he wasn't part of the typical circle.
At the time, I didn't know what he meant by going through the wrong person, but after reading this article, it made a lot more sense.
This same family member told me that back in the 80s, this stuff was a lot more out in the open with the coaches. In fact, the coaches at most schools would hold meetings with this circle of helpers in each region to let them know who needed a tux for prom, who needed their car fixed, whose Mama needed help with the light bill, etc. Anyway, my family member got invited to one of these meetings one time, and he wasn't interested in getting involved, so he excused himself from that part, though he does know a lot about these guys, and he does still hear about who is doing what.
These days, they do have to do it like the article describes, with the coaches (at least the head guy) being completely out of the loop. The coach needs plausible deniability, so he never gets involved anymore, not like they used to do it. With the prevalance of internet news on recruiting, it makes it a lot easier for a coach to NOT be involved, because he doesn't have to talk to the boosters about who he's pursuing. All he has to do is have his assistants "leak" information about recruits through the Steve/Yancy types, and then the booster network knows who the priorities are.
Either way, I always say that believing your school's program is squeaky clean is a lot like believing in Santa Claus. I gave up on believing that a long time ago. I'm sure there will be many that read this article and still argue that Santa Claus is real, because they just don't want to believe otherwise. In reality, the playing field is generally pretty level in recruiting when it comes to Bag Men. Certain prospects are steered to certain schools by certain towns or high school programs. We see a lot of that both ways in Mississippi, but outside of those, when you get to neutral ground recruits, everyone is playing the same game.
Usually the payments don't get exposed unless someone gets careless, or unless you get something out of hand, like the Cam Newton deal...and in his case, the father was probably the main reason things got out of hand by being too up front about wanting something.
Since this is the only MSU site where I can post, I thought I'd post my thoughts here, since I figure there will be a good discussion here.
I have a family member that is not one of these bag men. He's one of the $50,000+ a year, jacket guys described in the article, though he's not the big dicking type like the Bag Man described. The reason I say that is to say that he knows about this layer of boosters, and they do talk, and they do each know what the other school's Bag Men are doing for players.
Anyway, he told me right after the Redmond deal went to the NCAA that the ONLY reason you were getting in trouble is because you went through the wrong guy in Memphis.
In other words, whoever the booster was wasn't your Bag Man for the Memphis area, and he got loose with his activity, because he didn't know what he was doing, and he wasn't part of the typical circle.
At the time, I didn't know what he meant by going through the wrong person, but after reading this article, it made a lot more sense.
This same family member told me that back in the 80s, this stuff was a lot more out in the open with the coaches. In fact, the coaches at most schools would hold meetings with this circle of helpers in each region to let them know who needed a tux for prom, who needed their car fixed, whose Mama needed help with the light bill, etc. Anyway, my family member got invited to one of these meetings one time, and he wasn't interested in getting involved, so he excused himself from that part, though he does know a lot about these guys, and he does still hear about who is doing what.
These days, they do have to do it like the article describes, with the coaches (at least the head guy) being completely out of the loop. The coach needs plausible deniability, so he never gets involved anymore, not like they used to do it. With the prevalance of internet news on recruiting, it makes it a lot easier for a coach to NOT be involved, because he doesn't have to talk to the boosters about who he's pursuing. All he has to do is have his assistants "leak" information about recruits through the Steve/Yancy types, and then the booster network knows who the priorities are.
Either way, I always say that believing your school's program is squeaky clean is a lot like believing in Santa Claus. I gave up on believing that a long time ago. I'm sure there will be many that read this article and still argue that Santa Claus is real, because they just don't want to believe otherwise. In reality, the playing field is generally pretty level in recruiting when it comes to Bag Men. Certain prospects are steered to certain schools by certain towns or high school programs. We see a lot of that both ways in Mississippi, but outside of those, when you get to neutral ground recruits, everyone is playing the same game.
Usually the payments don't get exposed unless someone gets careless, or unless you get something out of hand, like the Cam Newton deal...and in his case, the father was probably the main reason things got out of hand by being too up front about wanting something.
I love MSU. I know I don't make the kind of coin these guys make and didn't grow up in a home that made that much money. I have a different worldview because of it. I would NEVER hand over my hard earned money to a 17 year old that I don't know. Plus, I have a budget and discuss expenditures with my wife. She balances the budget and manages our cash flow as well. I would love to hear that conversation. "Yeah honey. I gave some a kid from Vicksburg High $500 to see if he would go to MSU. And I plan to give him more over time to keep him interested. He may even come directly to me asking for money for a date or something like that. This is perfectly normal. Don't worry."
Last edited by a moderator:
1st recruit mentioned: Malachi Dupre in Oxford.
2nd recruit ("but they're doing the same thing to our guys right now in [rival school's town]. Cost of business."): Breeland Speaks at LSU
The tractor reference is to a Auburn-Bama battle.
The coach who said ******* on the plane is Orgeron at Tennessee
Player who called asking for 70k while recording: Currently plays for your team.
Very nice article.
ETA: Tahoe could be about a lot of recruits but it sounds like Trent Richardson specifically
2nd recruit ("but they're doing the same thing to our guys right now in [rival school's town]. Cost of business."): Breeland Speaks at LSU
The tractor reference is to a Auburn-Bama battle.
The coach who said ******* on the plane is Orgeron at Tennessee
Player who called asking for 70k while recording: Currently plays for your team.
Very nice article.
ETA: Tahoe could be about a lot of recruits but it sounds like Trent Richardson specifically
Last edited:
RebelBruiser, I'd like to thank you for stopping by just so I could laugh at the moniker you've been dubbed with on this board.
You'd have a better idea than I would, but if Godfrey really did sweet talk multiple boosters from the most powerful program in football to sit down and explain to him how they cheat, he could be making a lot more money doing something other than journalism
It's quite an old one. I've probably posted maybe 10 times in the last couple years. I used to visit a lot more frequently...and probably annoyed the crap out of a lot of these guys.