What I know about the 5-for-5 fiasco

This came up in another thread so I figured I would start this one...

It was a tough day for Tiger fans and recruiting analyst alike. While many fans were extremely disappointing with Noil, Willis and Brown deciding to play elsewhere, it was nearly impossible for the analyst to wrap their heads around all the conflicting information.

I am aware that throughout this post there may be times where it seems I'm boasting or deflecting negative sentiment, but that's not my intention by any means. Unfortunately, the way recruiting is, the analyst including myself have more information that we can't share than we can...for obvious reasons.

I will try to address each prospect and explain all the information I was gathering throughout their recruitment leading up to their decisions.

Tony Brown-- Brown was long considered a LSU lean, which is accurate. I talked about an interesting development in one of my chats last summer that proved to be the turning point in his recruitment.

As many of you probably remember, his father suffered a stroke and had a long, difficult recovery. For Tony, he had a very difficult time facing the issue. He was hesitant on visiting his father because he didn't want to see him in that condition. Saban convinced Brown to visit his father and Skype with him from there, which was the moment everything changed. The parents slowly began to be pro-Bama, along with Tony himself.

The confusion came about when Brown continued to tell LSU that he was coming to Baton Rouge. The night before his announcement, he contacted LSU coaches while they were eating at a restaurant to "reaffirm his commitment," which led them to believe he was selecting the Tigers. Once game day arrived, the chatter started circulating that Brown may choose the Tide. I consulted with my best sources surrounding the matter and they all confirmed what I had been hearing. Fournette's family was extremely upset once they gathered the news from the Brown family on the sidelines. It was evident that the Tigers had been taken for a ride if you will.

Speedy Noil-- Noil is an interesting fellow. His recruitment was extremely difficult to get a read on, but LSU sources remained confident they would ultimately sign the explosive play-maker throughout most of the process. However, it came to light the day of the UA game that he never intended to sign with LSU, which would explain why he was so hard for the staff to get a hold of him consistently while A&M and Florida coaches seemed to have an easier go at it. Noil had a pro-LSU family in his ear, but not many pro-LSU voices beyond that. The LSU staff leaned on the family to try and flip him, but to no avail.

A late conversation between LSU and Noil's group had the Tigers feeling good despite the rumors. Well, it proved to be more than just rumors. Hours before the start of the game it was very apparent that Noil wasn't LSU bound.

Willis-- Willis' recruitment had a lot of similarities to Noil. While the Tigers were a very early favorite for Willis, he became a Florida lean in the summer and did a great job keeping keeping it from everyone. his mother was anti-Muschamp due to his ties to Saban. It became apparent that Willis felt otherwise and over time she ever-so-slightly warmed up to the idea.

Willis also had a lot of pro-Gator talk in his ear, while the other was being filled with a lot of anti-LSU remarks. Rumors were circulating throughout the week of the UA game regarding Willis. Staffers at Florida that I spoke with were extremely confident. LSU coaches also were confident as they were continuously told they were in good standing with Gerald as the final hours approached. Once again, game-day brought about a bunch of new information. Prior to the game starting I was able to confirm with extremely reliable sources that Willis was indeed Florida bound.

The curve ball is Fournette...I'm sure many of you remember my tweet regarding Fournette to Texas. Well, there was more to it than many will believe. Texas was by far his favorite visit and had there not been the uncertainty regarding the coaching staff, there was a very good chance that he would have signed with the Horns. The Saban rumors were being closely monitored by Fournette and had Saban taken the position and I was told by multiple people that he may have made have followed, despite his whole circle of family and friends wanting him to go to LSU.

Important thing to note here is that his heart is with LSU and that was never a question...but he was also extremely infatuated with the Longhorns.

The Saban rumors to Texas that prompted that tweet actually came from a circle outside of recruiting that deals with a lot of the inner-circles of coaches, their agents etc. It was an extremely solid source. Saban to Texas was extremely close to happening and had it not been for a few stipulations that didn't sit well with Saban, he would've taken the job from what I gathered.

The thing that stands out to me the most about what transpired that day was that the fans were ready to jump off of bridges while the LSU coaches were elated that they landed Adams and Fournette. I know for a fact those were the two they saw as needs and wanted the most. "This was the biggest day in LSU's recruiting history," one told me just hours after the game.

Brown scared some on the staff because of his shoulder problems and they felt that retaining Toliver with Brown on board for the 2014 class may be difficult.

That's basically the summary of what went down that day. It was exhausting to try and stay on top of, but it was an experience I'll never forget.