FORMER IOWA RECRUITING COORDINATOR ERIC JOHNSON DECLARES THAT CARING IS CREEPY

Longtime BHGP readers know our position on recruiting coverage: Caring Is Creepy.  It's not that recruiting isn't important.  Rather, it's that the thought of dissecting the statements of a 16-year-old kid for a sign of his decisionmaking process -- as if anyone at that age has one -- or fawning over 7-on-7 drills makes us feel icky.  And as recruiting has ramped up in the seven years this site has been in business, it's only gotten creepier.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones thinking it.

In an interview last week, former Iowa recruiting coordinator and future Butterburger purveyor Eric Johnson was asked by ESPN's Jeremy Crabtree why he left coaching.  Johnson's answer was largely what we expected: The time commitment needed for recruiting today left amost no time for anything else:

"It all ties together," Johnson said. "You can never get away from it. If you are at dinner and the phone rings, you have to get it. Vacation is the same way. When you are on vacation, you are worried you are missing an opportunity with a prospect. This all takes away from the family. Weekends are nonexistent because of visits. It is just nonstop 365 days of year, and I needed to get off of that train and get a healthy balance in my life."

There was another reason for Johnson's decision, though, one which only reinforces how we've seen the process for years:

"Our profession has gone so much off the deep end with everything that's going on with recruiting, and it's not even funny anymore. There are a lot of other coaches all over the country that feel the same exact way and don't like the direction things are going. There's so much BS out there. We want you to be a part of 'our can of swag' or whatever. It got to the point where I just couldn't be a part of it anymore."

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"It was just my personal choice. It's just hard when you're always chasing 16- and 17-year-old kids."

CARING IS CREEPY CUE THE MUSIC.

Johnson's saying something that we've all known for some time: The increased revenue in college football and expanse of social media has turned an ever-brightening light on the recruiting process, a light that occasionally shines on some of the most ludicrous and ugly aspects of the sport.  That Johnson hit the wall and had the wherewithal to get out is commendable.  It's certainly not a profession for all.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to listen to the rest of that Shins record.