Bossier City Parkway head coach: Bama not welcome on his campus

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/aldotcomSports/status/831935201391628289

Parkway (La.) High School coach David Feaster told 104.5 ESPN his players can certainly join Nick Saban's Crimson Tide, but he isn't going to help Alabama recruit his kids.

"LSU's welcome in my school anytime," Feaster said. "The only school that can't come to Parkway is Alabama. And there's a long story behind that, but it had to do with not being ethical in their recruiting.

"They can't come. Everyone else is 100 percent welcome."

The reason?

There is a difference between an offer and a committable offer, something he found out the hard way in the recruitment of former LSU quarterback Brandon Harris.

"They love the guy," he said. "(They say) 'hey, coach, we want to offer Brandon.' I said, 'OK, good. How many quarterbacks have you offered so far?' (They said) 'about 6 or 7.' So I said, 'So you really haven't offered anybody.' (They said), 'well, coach, an offer from us at quarterback is really an offer to come to camp.' I said, 'OK, I understand what you're saying. You are offering these kids to meet Nick Saban. It's a big deal and he might go. But what I am telling Brandon is you only have so much money and so much time to spend, go to the schools that have you atop the boards."   

Feaster pointed to Ohio State, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Baylor as telling Harris he was atop their boards.

"Auburn (said) we want you right now," he explained. We want you to lead our recruiting class. We want some of these great athletes out of Louisiana to come with you."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/832638948493164544

Parkway (La.) fired coach David Feaster on Friday, not long after he publicly called the Crimson Tide's recruiting practices "unethical." As a result, Feaster said he wouldn't let members of the Alabama staff visit his players at school.

Two of Feaster's top players, 5-star WR Terrace Marshall and 4-star QB Justin Rogers, voiced their frustration after the news broke.

Feaster enacted his policy in part because he didn't like how the Crimson Tide recruited his former quarterback, Brandon Harris. Harris signed with LSU in 2014. Feaster said Alabama "offered" Harris in high school, but the offer wasn't actually committable.

[jbcarol]

 AL.com sports ‏@aldotcomSports 30m30 minutes ago

Fired Louisiana high school coach on banning Alabama: 'I brought so much negative publicity'
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/02/fired_louisiana_high_school_co.html

David Feaster, who was fired Friday as head coach at Parkway High School in Louisiana, isn't going quietly.

Parkway High School principal Waylon Bates fired David Feaster as the football coach after six seasons. The move was in response to a radio interview where he said he had banned Nick Saban and Alabama from recruiting on the school's campus.

Feaster, who is still teaching at the school, relayed his conversation with Bates to The Times.

"Most people are going to say 'Feaster just ran his mouth,' but (Parkway) made it clear to me why they fired me," Feaster told The Times. "They can say what they want to about Alabama, but (Bates) cited me for insubordination. He said, 'You should have checked with me before you banned Alabama.'

"I said, 'That was four years ago, you weren't even the principal here.' But he said I brought so much negative publicity to the school I had to go."

Bates released the following statement:

"Coach Feaster and I do not share the same philosophy or vision for Parkway High School athletics."

Earlier this week, Feaster said the only school not welcome at Parkway was Alabama.

"LSU's welcome in my school anytime," Feaster said. "The only school that can't come to Parkway is Alabama. And there's a long story behind that, but it had to do with not being ethical in their recruiting.

"They can't come. Everyone else is 100 percent welcome."

Feaster told Matt Hayes of the Sporting News after the firing: "I guess Nick Saban won this round."

Feaster made it a point earlier this week to say his players know they can go to Alabama.

"I don't want them on campus," he said. "I don't want them making those kind of offers.

"I'm just not going to help Alabama recruit my guys."

He re-iterated that again Friday to the Times.

"Am I the only coach who does this?" Feaster said of banning schools. "Surely, I thought this was a fairly common practice. I stand by the idea: If you're going to do that to Brandon Harris, you're going to do that to Justin Rodgers or Terrace Marshall, too. I tell the kids, 'If you want to go to Alabama, go to Alabama. I'm (not) going to help them recruit you because an offer is not necessarily an offer.'

"I'll deal with the guys who have integrity."

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/832700478773481472

Harris' classy tribute to Feaster is available via link

David Feaster's banning of Alabama from Parkway (La.) High School because of "unethical" recruiting tactics stems from the Crimson Tide's treatment of Brandon Harris.

The former LSU quarterback was recruited out of Parkway as part of the 2014 class where he was ranked as the nation's No. 3 dual-threat quarterback. Alabama coaches traveled to Parkway to scout Harris in 2013 and called him "phenomenal," according to Feaster. Harris received a camp offer following the meeting.

Harris did receive an offer from Nick Saban, but Alabama eventually chose to accept a commitment from David Cornwell over Harris.

"Maybe I'm playing too hard four years later, but I don't want them (Alabama) on campus," Feaster said. "I don't want them making those offers to the rest of my guys. My guys know they can go to Alabama. Marshall has been there a couple of times. If he wants to go to Alabama, he can and I'm going to pull for him — no doubt. I'm just not going to help Alabama recruit my guys."

Feaster was fired because of those comments on Friday, citing negative media attention as the reasoning for his dismissal.

"Coach Feaster and I do not share the same philosophy or vision for Parkway High School athletics," Parkway principal Waylon Bates said in a comment.