Let me start by eating some crow. I posted here twice that FSU would end up with a top 10 class, and we didn't. We were so, so close on half a dozen kids, but for once the famed Bowden finishing flourish didn't come through. Jimmy V had a better feel for the pulse of the recruiting season than I did. I saw below some thought that Cromartie was a silent to FSU keeping it quiet to screw up other programs. Most of you don't know how close you came to getting him. If signing day had been Tuesday rather than Wednesday, he probably would be a Gator. However, the same is true for Caldwell to FSU. I do believe that Cohen was waivering until late Monday or sometime Tuesday, as well. FWIW - Ernie Sims called all of the other four programs on Monday night to advise them that he had selected FSU in an effort to be fair to the other programs. This resulted in an assistant coach from another school coming to Tallahassee and violating the dead period to try to change his mind. I hear that the Sims family was very put off by what they considered to be an ethical breach, but they don't want to go public with it. Too bad. I've heard from sources at both North Florida Christian and Lincoln that Sims, Cro II, Cohen and Beason made a pact to play at the same school on Saturday night. This lasted until sometime Monday as each of Florida's big three swayed their commits to stay home. I see on this board that there is a lot of venom toward the dirty recruiting done by FSU. I've seen on Warchant that the feeling is mutual. I get the overall impression from several newspaper articles and the comments of a number of kids that this may have been one of the dirtiest recruiting years all the way around, and not just Florida schools. I'm positive that the FSU staff tried to get kids to think Zook wouldn't last 4 years and that UF's staff said the same about Bowden. I don't think either school can claim to be holier than the other in this regard. Its a shame, but it appears to be a necessary evil. The NCAA should look into whether the recruiting process can be made friendlier to the recruits and not the schools. Zook is an amazing recruiter. You got a spectacular class. That being said, I'm not all that unhappy with what FSU got this year. We need to qualify a number of these kids, but our major needs seem to be filled for this year and next. I still say we should lace 'em up and settle it on the field.