Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting

I thoroughly enjoyed "Meat Market" and all of its fascinating insights into the world of college football recruiting. I would encourage any college football fan to read this book, as it really is an eye-opener as to how the recruiting process unfolds on the "inside". I couldn't put the book down. Great stuff!

Excellent. Well written, first hand account in inner workings of this fascinating world that dominates the minds of so many year round, but especially Dec. through Feb. [email protected]

A friend from high school recommended this book even though I am an Alabama fan, and I really got into it. It really opened my eyes to how the recruiting process works. The access that Feldman provides is incredible--one can hear about how the coaches bicker and lobby for their own recruits and you hear about what turns them off and turns them on. The book shows you what a bizarre process this all can be. Through it all, you have an amazing central figure in the book in Orgeron, truly a flawed character battling alcoholism and also clearly dealing with rage issues. He comes across as both a tireless worker who is a lot smarter than people give him credit for, but he also comes across as a guy you wouldn't want to work for. The other thing that really draws you into this book is when you meet some of these recruits and you find out how heart-breaking their personal stories are. It's amazing to hear about all of the tragedy that they've had to overcome.

I read about "Meat Market" from the write-up in the New York Times and finished the book in a weekend. Ed Orgeron was such a fascinating character to read about. I don't know whether I liked him or hated him, but when I heard he got fired I did feel badly. You don't have to be a huge football fan to love this story.

This is a great look inside the world of recruiting college football. For the casual football fan, it will give you a much better appreciation for what a coach has to go through in order to find talented players who are also capable of qualifying academically.