Three-point stance: Farrell weighs in on Lane Kiffin lawsuit

Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell’s thought-provoking Three-Point Stance is here with thoughts on the lawsuit against Lane Kiffin, a new trend in college football and some transfer quarterbacks.

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Lane Kiffin is in the news again and, as usual, it’s not for something so great. But in this case, I don’t really fault him.

Of course I don’t know all the ins and outs of the lawsuit being filed by former Alabama receiver Antonio Carter, who claims Kiffin promised him a job if he helped deliver a key recruit to Kiffin’s new home, Florida Atlantic. But I do know one thing in college football and especially in recruiting: Verbal promises don’t mean much.

So if Kiffin promised Carter a job as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at FAU in exchange for his help pushing former four-star D’Anfernee McGriff to sign with the Owls, such is life. Good luck proving that in court and claiming damages.

What’s next? Recruits suing schools for verbal offers being pulled late (hello Nick Saban, Jim Harbaugh, Randy Edsall and company)? FAU is apparently using previous arrests and a background check on Carter as the reasons he wasn’t hired according to the suit, but does the school have to justify its reason at all? If Lane Kiffin promises me a job tomorrow as the Recruiting Coordinator at FAU and I quit Rivals based on his word, then I’m the fool.

Kiffin is an interesting character to follow and has had controversy follow him everywhere. His unpredictability has been a calling card of his for years. Banking on his word, especially with a background of recent arrests, is on Carter.

All is fair in verbal promises in recruiting.

There’s a new, fascinating trend occurring in college football. Okay, maybe it’s not that new, but it is certainly becoming more prominent and intense. It’s the recruitment of very average college football players as potential transfers.

While many are fifth-year grad transfers, some aren’t and they all seem to have the same thing in common – they washed out at their previous school. So why am I astounded at this? Because many of them are being recruited so heavily.

Remember Brandon Harris, the LSU quarterback many blamed for the lack of offense in Baton Rouge, ultimately the dismissal of Les Miles and continual losses to Alabama as the defense geared up for Leonard Fournette? Harris was being wooed by numerous programs and is visiting UNC this weekend and now Texas next weekend. All this attention for a guy who has completed 54 percent of his college passes and was benched last season after a horrible start.

Another big name out there in college football “free agency” is former Clemson defensive tackle Scott Pagano. Pagano has visited Notre Dame and plans to visit Arkansas, Oklahoma and Oregon apparently with more than 40 schools showing initial interest once he announced he was leaving. Pagano’s career stats at Clemson include 42 tackles over three seasons and two sacks while losing his job to a true freshman this past season (albeit a freak in Dexter Lawrence).

Former South Carolina quarterback Brandon McIlwain recently visited Cal while Baylor, Virginia, Arizona and others are also trying. He completed 52 percent of his passes and threw two touchdowns while being sacked nine times last season. And one final example is former Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire, one of the nicest kids I’ve ever covered out of high school but one who has also only played in 15 college games and completed 58 passes. But that hasn’t stopped UNC, Florida and Wisconsin from begging him to join their programs.

Yes, Russell Wilson was a fifth-year superstar for Wisconsin and there have been others that have had great success, but it’s still interesting to watch these guys get re-recruited years after high school as heavily as before despite an average college resume.

Speaking of quarterbacks such as Harris and Zaire, the college football landscape and even perhaps the playoff could be impacted greatly by a few transfer quarterbacks. Jarrett Stidham, formerly of Baylor, shows up on the Plains with huge expectations. If he can be the answer at quarterback, Auburn can make some serious noise in the SEC West with a strong running game and a very talented defense.

In Morgantown, West Virginia's former Gators signal-caller Will Grier could be the answer in Dan Holgerson’s offense if he’s deemed eligible this summer and is talented enough to make West Virginia an impact team in a watered-down Big 12.

Former five-star quarterback Kyle Allen showed flashes of brilliance at Texas A&M but also flashes of panic under pressure so it will be interesting to see how he does with Major Applewhite in Houston. Allen has the talent to be a Group of Five star.

While Pitt isn’t the favorite to win its division in the ACC, it will still be interesting to see if Max Browne can be effective and continue the run of successful transfers for the Panthers (Tom Savage, Nathan Peterman).

Finally, one-time five-star quarterback Blake Barnett is a sleeper to watch at Arizona State. The quarterback play for the Sun Devils hasn’t been good the last couple of years and the defense has been worse, but in the Pac-12, a guy such as Barnett can put up big numbers and keep defenses on their toes with his running ability.

Browne is the only fifth-year guy of the group and the one I expect to make the least impact of the group, so don’t think I’m contradicting my first point. The earlier a quarterback transfers, the bigger impact he can obviously make and a couple of these guys could be huge for their new team's run toward a division title at the very least.