TU recruiting: Nothing to get excited about (yet)

Ben Onett's recruiting video is impressive.

I usually don't write about Temple football recruiting for a couple of reasons:
1) The NCAA rules involved in what is considered a college "booster" or "supporter" are pretty vague and it's just good judgment for me not to be involved in the process.
2) The NCAA rules about "verbals" and "soft verbals" are screwed up. Al Golden had a great idea about an "early signing period" meaning that the kids who commit within a certain time frame (say, the ones who already committed) cannot be contacted by other schools without a major penalty involved. That would reward hard-working staffs, like Golden's and presumably Addazio's, for making solid early calls and protect them against a BCS team swooping in and taking their recruits.
So I wait until the signatures are signed on the dotted line to talk about the kids.
Generally speaking, I think Temple University (or really any other) football recruiting is really nothing to get excited about until the first Wednesday of every February.
It's good to see that new head coach Steve Addazio is targeting what he feels is a quarterback with the "it" factor in Benjamin Onett of St. John's (D.C). He recently added a couple of defensive backs, Archbishop Wood running back Brandon Peoples, a punter and a backup placekicker.
All good, solid kids.
I'm playing the waiting game with Addazio, though, because, quite frankly, I was underwhelmed with his first class. Compared to the hastily recruited first class of Bruce Arians (Heisman Trophy runner up Paul Palmer, NFL pro bowler Tre Johnson, among others) it falls even short for a guy who had a month to put together a group.
I'll give Steve the benefit of the doubt, but I don't think we'll get a Heisman Trophy runner up or an NFL pro bowler from this past February's group. Just a hunch.
We had a three-time first-time all-state running back (Owen J. Roberts' Ryan Brumfield) who WANTED to come to Temple passed over and a RB schollie given to a guy who is about the same size and a full tenth of a second slower in the 40 (Spencer Reid) who was an unimpressive honorable mention third-team All Central League player.
That was a WTF moment for me.
Everything I've heard, though, is that this guy is a great recruiter.
I hope the best is yet to come and, on signing day, we're talking about a guy who is down to Alabama or Temple. Or Penn State or Temple.
Then he pulls out the Penn State hat, replaces it with a TU hat and says: "I've decided to take my talents to Temple University."
I fully expect given everything I've heard, such a moment will happen soon with Steve Addazio.
At least that's a fervent hope.
Congrats to all of the kids who have so far had the wisdom to pick the Owls, but I'm not excited about TU recruiting.
Yet.