Even through signing day, the strange saga of Jordan Burch just keeps going
Talk to folks around the Hammond football program, they’ll tell you they don’t really see a Jordan Burch “saga.” They just see a kid who they’re around every day. The hubbub around his recruitment is good fodder for media and message boards, but it’s just noise.
And yet for the second time two months, South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp walked up to his podium on a national signing day and was not able to talk about Burch, a pledged recruit with the option to lock in his next team.
The five-star prospect and jewel of the 2020 recruiting class had not yet sent in his letter of intent as of 7 p.m. on Wednesday. He and his family did not do so after his commitment in December, and eventually word leaked out he wanted to sign along with teammates at Hammond.
He did that Wednesday. He said he was excited to play with three teammates were also are set to become Gamecocks. He pulled on a garnet South Carolina hat and later a black Gamecocks polo.
He even retweeted several things about him sticking with South Carolina.
But hours later his coach was left at a podium, facing hypothetical questions about potentially hard-to-get recruits because he couldn’t speak directly to the situation.
Muschamp was asked if he was worried about someone unsigned: “No, we’re going to be fine.”
Muschamp was asked why a player might push back handing in his letter of intent: “You got to ask them.”
This was hours after Muschamp sat in the room with Burch as he reaffirmed his pledge. Muschamp even found himself answering a question about a parent controlling a player’s recruitment.
Recruiting is prone to bouts of weirdness. There’s history of parents stealing letters of intent, players signing letters to multiple schools, late-night changes of heart and last-minute flips.
But this one has to rank right up there.
To a degree, there’s an explanation for some of the steps. A player staying as quiet as Burch has is unusual, but keeping things close to the vest is oftentimes not a bad idea. Wanting to sign alongside friends makes sense to a degree, and taking a quick visit to a second-choice school is some of the largess afforded truly talented players.
But then to play out like last signing day all over again ...
He and his family again stayed silent following a ceremony at which he was at the center. There’s nothing wrong with that, but each time what followed was a breakdown in the standard operating procedure of the sport he’s about to become a part of.
Burch seems to possess the talent and the ability to be worth all the ups and downs (some less talented players might well be cut loose for making a staff wait). He’s got the potential to be a game-changer, maybe a program-changer if he lives up to the hype. If nothing else, his arrival brings the kind of unquantifiable goodwill that helps a football program.
But whoever is in charge of the decisions is absolutely leveraging that talent, pushing things well beyond where they usually go.
South Carolina’s Wednesday signees:
LB Gilber Edmond, 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Fort Pierce, Fla. (Westwood)
RB ZaQuandre White, 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Cape Coral, Fla. (North Fort Myers/ Iowa Western C.C.)
DL Alex Huntley, 6-foot-3, 279 pounds, Blythewood, S.C. (Hammond School)
WR Ger-Cari Caldwell, 6-foot-4, 195 pounds, Rock Hill, S.C. (Northwestern)
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 5:48 PM.
