Jack Sears Update

[mbird30]

https://twitter.com/BruceFeldmanCFB/...00688181571584

[Dukehky]

He asked for permission. https://twitter.com/ISDUpdate

And the week that will not end continues, likely to end with a pissed off Kansas team playing Duke without its 3 lottery picks. Thank god for Duke over UNC on Thursday.

Go Panthers (Carolina, not Pitt) kinda.

[GGLC]

What the hell.

[sagegrouse]

Signed with USC:

Erik McKinney ESPN Staff Writer

USC posted its biggest win of the season on Saturday and didn't have to wait long for a big win on the recruiting trail. The Trojans had been without a quarterback in this 2017 class, but landed their signal-caller when ESPN 300 quarterback Jack Sears flipped his commitment from Duke. Sears, the nation's No. 139 prospect and No. 8 pocket passer, attends the same high school that produced USC starting quarterback Sam Darnold. Sears is scheduled to enroll early at USC.

[GGLC]

I don't understand.

[Bob Green]

This is very disappointing news. The QB situation was looking solid with Daniel Jones followed by Jack Sears. Now we are looking at the second recruiting class in a row without a QB signed.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I get that this happens fairly often in football recruiting. But if you're not sure, why commit in the first place? It makes you look like an a-hole and can really hurt the team you flip on.

[OldPhiKap]

Good luck to Jack if that is his choice. Go Duke.

[Avvocato]

I get that this happens fairly often in football recruiting. But if you're not sure, why commit in the first place? It makes you look like an a-hole and can really hurt the team you flip on.

I have no inside knowledge, obviously, but the discussion when he committed to Duke was that he planned to enroll early and challenge for playing time as a freshman. That was when it looked like Sirk would be the starter (or Boehme). With Jones establishing himself as the QB of the present, Sears may think that if he is going to have to redshirt and wait a couple of years to play (I.e., wait behind Jones), he may prefer to do it at home at USC.

Very disappointing, but we swim in these waters now. Also shows how good people think Daniel Jones is, in my opinion. Tough news, but at least we have Jones for 2-3 more seasons. We'll pick up the pieces. Better to know now then have it happen on the eve of signing day.

[fuse]

While I don't pretend to understand the football commitment process at all, given how well Daniel Jones has played, this is not a surprise.

[budwom]

Lots of factors...California kid and USC is on the rise, Jones is young and prospering at Duke...disappointing but not ultra surprising...

[bob blue devil]

So is it reasonable to project Jones as our 4 year starter at this point?

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Very upsetting but this stuff happens in football. I'm glad it happened sooner rather than later but I'm guessing it is too late to find anyone even half as good as Sears at this point. I think the emergence of Jones definitely had an impact on it. Though it is interesting to note that a redshirt freshman has taken over as QB at USC as well, so it is no cake walk there either.

Also, I am a huge fan of Coach Cut and the job he has done, but when push comes to shove, do you play QB at USC or Duke, particularly if you are from California? If this was basketball and the roles were reversed, we would be saying he's nuts for choosing USC over Duke (Thornton's special circumstances don't count here). Granted, basketball is a bit different as there is only one QB who really plays in football vs. basketball, where being recruited over is less of a problem, but I still don't question his decision. It is just frustrating that he had this change of heart after committing to Duke - if he had made this decision up front, we would likely not really be questioning it much.

[duke79]

UGH....!! NOT good news (obviously) but also not completely surprising. I'm not sure anyone other than Jack Sears and maybe his parents know what is going on in his mind but kids change their minds quite often (speaking as the parent of a teen-age girl). I have also been wondering ever since Thomas Sirk got injured and Daniel Jones has emerged as a legitimate Div. 1 QB (as a redshirt freshman!) if Sears would re-consider his decision to come to Duke. Assuming Jones continues to improve (hopefully) and assuming that he doesn't have some sort of career-ending injury (God forbid), any QB coming into Duke now, even if they redshirt for a year, is looking at sitting on the bench for two years. I'm sure this was not in Jack Sears' plan for his Duke career. Also, and frankly, I found this a somewhat surprising commit from a star QB in Southern California. I know Coach Cut has the reputation as QB guru BUT it's a long way from Southern Cal to Durham and, let's face reality, even with the improvement in Duke football, Duke is still not really a "football school." Just look at the pathetic attendance at most of the home games. Does a star high school football player really want to play in a half-empty stadium every week? Or would you rather go to a football school like Michigan, Alabama, USC, Florida, Clemson, etc. and play before packed stadium of rabid fans?

Good luck to him. I hope he succeeds wherever he ends up!

[loran16]

Doubt jones had much to do with this. But keeping hold of four star prospects like sears or petite two years back who are having strong senior seasons in areas dominated by better football colleges is always gonna be rough for this team.

Duke probably should look at the transfer market for qbs, as cut's reputation there should be still strong while transfers are less likely to be that bothered by duke's lack of football reputation. Otherwise We'll have to hope to keep finding underrated gems. Both can be done. Need a qb recruit or two by 18 though

[CameronBornAndBred]

"I started to have second thoughts on my Duke commitment on my official visit for the Army game (Oct. 8). I tried to suppress the change of heart but I really started to assess things the last 10 days and then finally decided yesterday that USC is where I want to be."

There's the problem. Never take a recruiting visit during a hurricane.

http://www.scout.com/college/footbal...b-flips-to-usc

[westwall]

https://twitter.com/BruceFeldmanCFB/...00688181571584

After watching Jones' recent performances I wondered when this would occur.

[Dukehky]

While I don't pretend to understand the football commitment process at all, given how well Daniel Jones has played, this is not a surprise.

Have you seen the Darnold kid at USC who is the same number of football years into his career as Jones? 1 eligible. I love Daniel Jones, but to think that Sears has a better chance of playing right away at USC, where they have a frontrunner for the Heisman the next two years, and likely another 5 star QB on the roster or on the way, is home cooked.

The more likely scenario is a mixture of wanting to play for a program on the rise nationally (I know we're doing better, but we are on the rise regionally), and wanting to play for a program close to home, with guys he's played with his entire life.

This sucks, but this is just a USC>Duke in football thing.

I thought had he come, we would have done some Renfree/Boone series splitting next year, this kid is super talented. Good luck to him, I hope he gets to play during his college career.

Again, I don't think that Daniel Jones playing well has ANYTHING to do with this, especially given the way his counterpart at USC has played.

[chrishoke]

Have you seen the Darnold kid at USC who is the same number of football years into his career as Jones? 1 eligible. I love Daniel Jones, but to think that Sears has a better chance of playing right away at USC, where they have a frontrunner for the Heisman the next two years, and likely another 5 star QB on the roster or on the way, is home cooked.

The more likely scenario is a mixture of wanting to play for a program on the rise nationally (I know we're doing better, but we are on the rise regionally), and wanting to play for a program close to home, with guys he's played with his entire life.

This sucks, but this is just a USC>Duke in football thing.

I thought had he come, we would have done some Renfree/Boone series splitting next year, this kid is super talented. Good luck to him, I hope he gets to play during his college career.

Again, I don't think that Daniel Jones playing well has ANYTHING to do with this, especially given the way his counterpart at USC has played.

We are all guessing here, but early playing time was one of Duke's recruiting advantages over the football powers closer to home.

[ehdg]

It's a shame that Sears backed out but not as surprised. With the way Jones has come on this year and developed it's kind of expected. As we all know Jones has 3 more years of eligibility ahead. I highly doubt Sears wanted to sit and wait for probably 3 years behind Jones and waist 2 years of his eligibility. Plus it's always hard to keep west coast commits. I understand him backing out but a bit surprised he chose USC. Yes USC is a really good football school and has produced some really good QB's but there he also will have to sit behind a Freshman and wait at least 2 years but only lose 1 year of eligibility. Don't forget Darnold could graduate and go pro if he so chooses after his Junior year being a Red Shirt Freshman this year. Hate losing Sears but least we found out early. Also with the way Jones has played this year I'd think good WR's would want to play with him and we still might be able to bring in a stud WR or 2 in this coming class hopefully!