Jonah Pirsig gave a verbal commitment to play football for the Gophers in July. The Blue Earth offensive lineman had scholarship offers from nearly every Big Ten school, including Ohio State and Michigan, but he informed recruiters that he was "firm" in his decision.
Gophers coach Jerry Kill and his staff didn't take any chances. They didn't smother him with a sales pitch, but they didn't ignore him, either.
Offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover checks in with Pirsig several times a week by phone and had dinner with his family Friday night.
Like every college program, the Gophers are busy finalizing their 2012 recruiting class in advance of Wednesday's national signing day. A critical part of that process is making sure recruits who already have committed stay committed. A verbal commitment no longer signals the end -- or likely outcome -- of the recruiting process.
"Committed nowadays just means you start recruiting them," Kill said.
A signed letter of intent represents the pot of gold at the end of a recruitment, but a verbal commitment is an important landmark. Commitments are nonbinding but, in theory, they serve the same function as a wedding engagement. That doesn't always guarantee the couple makes it to the altar. A commitment doesn't require other schools to stop recruiting the prospect, which is why coaches never view a "verbal" as a sure thing.
"Sometimes it's harder to hang on to them than to get that initial 'yes' because you become a target once they commit to you," said Mitch Browning, former Gophers offensive coordinator. "Especially if a guy is a real good player and has a lot of offers."
A recent study by SI.com found that nearly 15 percent of Rivals Top 100 players in a five-year window decommitted. Top-ranked quarterback Gunner Kiel decommitted twice during his recruitment -- first from Indiana and later LSU -- before enrolling at Notre Dame last week.