You have to love recruiting. Not too long ago, blue chip quarterback recruit Shea Patterson gave his pledge to Hugh Freeze and the Ole Miss Rebels. Fast forward a few weeks and now Shea’s brother Sean has been hired on to the Ole Miss staff to an off the field position.
First things first: major college athletics programs hiring a relative or coach of a coveted blue-chip recruit is a tactic that’s been around for years, and if it’s traditionally been more prevalent in college basketball, it’s far, far from unheard of in college football.
In other words: feel free to raise your eyebrows, but don’t let yourself be shocked by the news that Sean Patterson — brother of recent five-star Ole Miss quarterback commitment Shea Patterson — has reportedly been hired to an off-field staff position by (you guessed it) Ole Miss. Per the Clarion Ledger, as of Wednesday, Sean is now listed in the school online directory under the title of “associate director for recruiting operations.”
The job is actually Sean’s second on the staff of an SEC West team; he resigned from a position as an LSU offensive quality control assistant on Feb. 17, the same day Shea committed to play for Ole Miss and the Rebels. (Reports that day indicated Sean was already expected to take a similar position in Oxford.) Sean has also worked for Arizona,which just so happened to be the first commitment his brother Sean made, way back in 2012.
With that kind of attention, it’s no wonder there’s been so much interest on the part of teams in employing Sean … who’s certainly not the first person to be hired in such a fashion. If Shea delivers on his immense promise, Sean certainly won’t be the last to get that bump, either.
This most certainly isn’t the first time someone close to a high profile recruit has parlayed their recruitment into a job on a staff. It is certainly interesting how Sean Patterson has been on three different staffs since 2012 and Shea has committed or almost committed to every staff.
I know that’s his brother and all, but eventually little brother is going to have to start looking out for his interests and not his brother’s.