June 4, 2010  Thigpen: Five-star not always football star  The
Internet has brought fans closer than ever to the college
football recruiting process. It takes mere minutes to search for
a high school player's film, learn what schools he is interested
in and compare him to the other recruits that could potentially
commit to their favorite program.  But those research
capabilities aren't exclusive to fans. With the creation of
video-sharing websites like YouTube, coaches are now able to
save hours of valuable time by simply typing a player's name in
the search bar to watch his highlights.  "You've got access with
one click," said Auburn safeties coach and recruiter Tommy
Thigpen. "You don't have to go back to the library, find his
tape, pull it out, download it on your system. All that takes
time. Now you just go to YouTube, one click and you're seeing
anybody play. It's changed the way we do business."  With that
capability, Thigpen added that it is getting harder to miss
those "hidden gems," the players with