Charles Davis
Recruiting in college football has always been the lifeblood for any successful program, which is a big reason for the explosion of new facilities across the country. It has created an arms race, with schools trying to build bigger and better areas for the teams.
On a smaller, much less expensive scale, uniform colors and schemes have been tweaked and altered much because of the “coolness” factor felt by the younger generation, something Oregon has taken to a whole new level and perfected.
But, here could be a new recruiting pitch: postgame meal.
Oregon State head coach Mike Riley tweeted after beating UCLA this past weekend that he was taking the team to In-N-Out, a popular hamburger restaurant that has expanded on the west coast over the last decade from their roots in California.
Charles Davis, who played for Tennessee and is now working with FOX Sports as a college football analyst, told the 111 Sports Podcast that his Volunteer postgame meals were for the most part not that exciting.
“As a team, we didn’t stop at an In-N-Out or anything; Mike Riley’s pretty cool, I’ve got to give him points for that one. If my kid is ever good enough to play, I might tell him, ‘He takes you to In-N-Out burger, you might want to check out Oregon State.’”
Davis did say he had one memorable meal after a game, “We went to Rutgers when I was a redshirt freshman in 1983, and I grew up in New York State, so my house was less than two hours away from Rutgers and my Mom brought apple pie, cookies and brownies and the whole thing. Me and the team — we ate well postgame — so that’s my favorite memory.”
It’s a nice opportunity for coaches to exploit this perk — it is not an NCAA violation and in fact, you can go as grand as you would like. If the school picks up the bill, there is no limit on the value of a postgame meal or any meal surrounding the competition.
It seems like a cool angle to recruit from. “Come play here, win a lot of games … and we’ll feed you well!”
Arizona native Matt Minkus is the host of the 110 Sports Podcast, a show that pays homage to one of the most repeated cliches in sports: “Giving 110 percent.” Excerpts of new shows will be available at LindysSports.com every Wednesday.