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College football coaches have been known to say some strange things and make some unkeepable promises in their efforts to recruit top prep talent. Generally speaking, though, the line is drawn at promising players they’ll get to meet dead celebrities.
That wasn’t the case, however, for one of the nation’s most sought-after recruits, who was reportedly promised by a prospective coach that he’d get to meet Michael Jackson — who died almost four years ago — if he played for that particular program.
Speaking to CBS Sports' Bruce Feldman, five-star class of 2014 defensive tackle Da’Shawn Hand gave the following answer to a question about the craziest thing that’s happened to him along the recruiting trail:
Well, I ain't gonna say any names, but one coach told me that since I'm the No. 1 player, I'm gonna get to meet Michael Jackson. I said, "Isn't he already dead?" The coach goes, "Well, all right, you can meet Tito." I was like, all right. OK, I'm done.
It was crazy, but it is what it is.
Since Hand is the No. 2 overall recruit in the class of 2014, according to Scout.com, and he holds offers from virtually every team in college football, it’s tough to narrow down exactly which smooth criminal may have used the King of Pop to try to change the way they made Hand feel about their school.
But the issue of dead-or-not is pretty black or white, and hopefully at the very least, the faux pas motivated the coach to look at the man in the mirror and better analyze his pitches going forward. (I mean, I know he is not alone in going to extremes to lock down the next thriller, and most coaches don’t stop ‘til they get enough for their liking... but come on, that’s just bad.)
Maybe one day Hand will regret writing off the chance to rock with this coach — whomever he was — but for the time being, I don’t blame him for telling the guy to beat it.
