College football’s National Signing Day took place earlier in February, and as a result, fans got the final decisions of some of the biggest high school prospects.
While some players, like Michigan Wolverines quarterback recruit Bryce Underwood, had already committed, others waited until signing day. However, just because a player is a five-star recruit does not mean they will succeed.
Penn State Legend Adam Breneman Explains Why Some Five-Star Recruits Fail
Not all five-star recruits succeed. Some turn into NFL stars, while others struggle to get their college careers off the ground. Adam Breneman, a former five-star recruit at Penn State who went on to have a solid college career, made an Instagram post on Saturday giving five reasons why some five-star recruits fail.
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“Why do so many five-star recruits bust in college?” Breneman asked. “Just because you’re a five-star recruit doesn’t mean you’ll be a star once you get to school. What separates the busts from the breakouts? Let’s get into it.
“Step one is just picking the wrong school from the start,” he explained. “Some five stars go to a program just for the hype. They don’t go where they have the best fit. They may go where they’re getting paid the most money. If the system doesn’t fit their skill set, especially as a skill-position-type player, you will not get developed.
“The second thing is competition—just hitting really hard. At the high school level, they’re used to dominating, but they’re not used to getting competed with at a high level. Some guys cannot handle that pressure, and that’s the truth, Breneman said.
“The third thing is just a lack of work ethic. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Talent gets you the offer, but work ethic keeps you on the field.”
“The fourth thing is coaching and development,” Breneman clarified. “Some coaches don’t develop the right way. Not every program maximizes talent the best.
“And then number five, maybe the most common one, [is] just off-field issues. Some guys struggle with academics, maturity, or distractions, and it kills their career before it even starts. Recruiting rankings do matter, and I believe that fully, but they do not guarantee success,” he concluded.
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Breneman was a five-star recruit for Penn State in 2013 but left after 2015 for the UMass Minutemen.
He would go on to earn All-American honors in two seasons at UMass. Unfortunately for the star tight end, he was forced to retire before he started his professional career because of a knee injury.
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