Posted by: Pete Roussel on February 5, 2012

247Sports CEO Shannon Terry announced via twitter on Tuesday morning that college football assistant coaches will be ranked for their recruiting achievements beginning with the class of 2014.

It's a move that will further capture Terry's main audience, but it will be hard for the ranking to accurately paint the picture, which may frustrate many coaches.

Don't get me wrong, recruiting websites have made tremendous strides in recent years in their accuracy due to digital video exchange and social media, but I think it's not possible to accurately account for the job that assistant coaches do in recruiting because there are so many factors involved.

Terry tweeted today, "In production for 2014 class: Computer generated Assistant Coach Recruiting Ranking tied to the #247Composite."

Thomas Goldkamp, who works with 247Sports followed up by adding, "Recruiting followers always wondering which assistants are best recruiters. @sbterry247 new product will give quantitative measure of that."

In reality, that's absolutely not the case.  What coaches won't appreciate is the fact that fans and certain people in the media will begin to label them as recruiters.  He's a big-time recruiter!  He isn't much of a recruiter! That guy can't recruit!

Consider that most BCS coaching staffs work together to sign a particular recruit.  Yes, there is a lead recruiter, but often a recruit signs with a particular college for reasons in reason totally unrelated to his area recruiter.

More importantly, certain assistant coaches don't get help from their head coach or their coordinator.  On the other hand, you think Alabama assistant coaches have an easier job because of Nick Saban? Would you be a better recruiter working for Saban as opposed to some other coaches?

Take Ole Miss, for example.  If you're being recruited by the Rebels, you're going to talk on the phone to multiple coaches, sometimes the entire staff, during the 1-permissible phone call per week during the Fall.  Hugh Freeze learned that from Ed Orgeron, and other coaching staffs do the same.

Certain head coaches, when it comes crunch time in the last few weeks before Signing Day, allow the position coach to take over as the lead recruiter regardless of the region of the country the recruit lives.

I wonder if every recruit will be tagged with an assistant coach.

What if a coach spends over a year recruiting a player before resigning in the weeks leading up to Signing Day?  Who gets the credit for that recruit?

Who gets credit for a recruit that commits before an entire staff is dismissed, but he keeps his commitment?

At the end of the day, we all like the recruiting websites.  They are fun to follow.  Coaches follow the sites, though some coaches more than others.  It's great entertainment and a good source of information.

But without the necessary information needed to quantify the job coaches do as recruiters, I think it's unfair to the coaches and believe that certain coaches will take offense.

The good news is that more coaches may turn to Coaching Search Consulting Inc., which works with coaches behind-the-scenes to effectively communicate their message about why they are valuable. In the last two months, well over 50 college and NFL coaches have used CSC to help with their professional advancement.

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Pete Roussel is a valuable resource for coaches, athletic directors, NFL front-office personnel, and college football enthusiasts. A former college football coach, Roussel shares insight on coaches 365 days a year and is recognized as the most trusted expert on coaching transactions. Follow @CoachingSearch on twitter and send your feedback to pete@coachingsearch.com