re: Is there an undisclosed back story to the Patrick Surtain flip?

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There is more backstory to this sudden flip that has not leaked out yet. It is clear the young man wanted to be at LSU and there was some undisclosed pressure that caused him to choose Alabama

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If he really wanted to be at LSU, he would have signed during the early signing period. When you have a guy that has been committed that long and doesn't sign at the first opportunity he can, then that is a bad sign.

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Has the father always resented that LSU did not recruit him? Was he offered a position at Alabama which will materialize in the next few months?

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Listening to his father's comments, he says Surtain has been an LSU fan his whole life but they had a family talk about making his own decision, blah, blah, blah. Sounds like Surtain wanted to go to LSU but his family got in his ear to have him question his decision and ultimately pressured him to flip.

That's just my theory, but we will never know for certain.

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The young man claims he chose Alabama because they win championships. This suddenly dawned on him on Tuesday night?

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exactly. This wasn't a decision that was made Tuesday due to some revelation after "praying on it."

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It's more likely he saw Alabama win another championship in the last month and wants to be part of the winning culture. Meanwhile, at LSU, we ran off the splash OC after one year and lost in the bowl due to terrible goal line management. The two programs are in different realms right now.

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That's what the staff needs to get through their heads- we are on a lower level than Bama. You must include that in your strategy. CEO isn't doing, neither was Miles.

When you stuck on the notion that you are on the same level (elite):

- if you think you're neck and neck, you are not- you are behind

- negative recruiting against you is more effective, and yours is less effective. Put your energy elsewhere
- "relationships" matter less. At the end of the day there are bigger pulls, e.g. championships for Surtain (or Cam Rob for that matter)

- in the relationship department, every visit/call/mailer/camp by the higher level team has more value. They are more likely to beat down their door than yours. You have to 'show more love', make bigger gestures, etc. Simply put- you'll have to out hustle them, to the end.

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- negative recruiting against you is more effective, and yours is less effective. Put your energy elsewhere
- "relationships" matter less. At the end of the day there are bigger pulls, e.g. championships for Surtain (or Cam Rob for that matter)

- in the relationship department, every visit/call/mailer/camp by the higher level team has more value. They are more likely to beat down their door than yours. You have to 'show more love', make bigger gestures, etc. Simply put- you'll have to out hustle them, to the end.

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In this case it is not what the LSU staff did or did not do, nor is it about what Alabama did. There were internal factors which influenced this decision that LSU simply could not fight.