What a verbal really is

If you haven't heard by now, it means you (a) have a real job or (b) don't follow BYU recruiting as closely as you do the actual game of football, but for those in the dark:

Sealver Siliga de-commits from BYU and commits to Utah.

If I had to guess, he wants to play ball with his friend Kendrick Moeai who recently committed to the University of Utah. Pure speculation.

For those who don't understand how recruiting works, NCAA football players sign a LOI (letter of intent) in early February. This is the first and only legally binding document between the school and the player. They must thereafter be released (like Cade Cooper recently) from that agreement to play football elsewhere.

So BYU's commitments are all just a verbal agreement between the Coach and the player. That's right, not a single one of the players for 2008 is guaranteed to be wearing Cougar blue come next fall. Siliga broke no contracts or anything of the sort. In fact, it is quite common for recruits to flip-flop between different schools. In the end, these are still teenagers. While not legally contracted to BYU, what Siliga did in many fans' minds was wrong logically, ethically, grammatically and ideologically, but in the end he is up for grabs until he puts his pen to a paper in February.

I feel it is safe to assume that if Siliga decides later on he wants to come to BYU there will not be a scholarship waiting for him. Coach Mendenhall is known for his emphasis on investment and breaking a verbal contract of any sort does not fall within the realm of acceptable for a BYU player.

My 3 Cents: While I was excited about Siliga, this does not ruin the 2008 class or make me worry about the defensive line. BYU already has Magnum Mauga (JC All-American) from last year coming and Tevita Hola, a four-star DT from Snow. Siliga would have provided a nice long term possibility but the coaches still have plenty of time to find someone else to fill the spot.