SEC didn’t go nearly far enough with ‘oversigning’
Mike Slive handed out $18.3 million checks to conference members Friday, but oversigning numbers don't add up. (AP photo)
Nick Saban, apparent guiding light for the nation’s oppressed and downtrodden — or at least those with a really good time in the 40 — is blaming the media for making too much of this “oversigning” issue.
“You all are creating a bad problem for everybody,” he said. “You’re going to mess up kids’ opportunities by doing what you’re doing.”
Yes, that is my purpose here on earth — to prevent potential student-athletes from fulfilling their dreams. And I’m certain if Nick Saban’s son were to be offered a football scholarship one year, only to be told months later after he had enrolled that there was no room after all, or to be pressured into leaving a season or two later when coaches suddenly determined that he wasn’t good enough, papa bear still would be perfectly fine with all this.
I don’t mean to put this all on Saban, although he and Houston Nutt have been two of the biggest abusers of oversigning, a “morally reprehensible” practice in the words of Florida president Bernie Machen. Only in the past year has the issue been drawing the attention it deserves.
The SEC, as the highest-profile college football conference in the nation, had a chance to make a loud statement at its meetings this week. It kind of wimped out. Rather than attack the oversigning problem with significant legislation, it decided only that it would lower the annual scholarship offer cap from 28 to 25.
Let me translate: Coaches now have a lower limit as to how unethical and morally reprehensible they can be. Feel better?
This was sort of like the real SEC passing a rule: “We recognize that insider trading is a problem. So we’re going to cap profits from said illegal transactions at $2.7 million.”
According to the rules, if a coach has 18 scholarship openings he can still sign 25 kids, then massage the numbers over a certain period, coerce kids into quitting or taking a “grayshirt” — postponing going on scholarship — or working some medical hardship magic (albeit, the SEC will have some oversight now). In the end, the coach gets the 18 players on the roster he wants and other seven are dropped into a black hole.
Welcome to the NCAA’s mission: Winning and making money, moral compass be damned.
College coaches don’t want to be held accountable for their mistakes. They don’t want to pay the price if a five-star defensive back devolves into a one-star punt coverage guy, or if a recruit fails to qualify academically, or if the kid backs out at the last minute to sign elsewhere.
Get a helmet, coach. Everybody takes the same risks.
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity acknowledged in an interview Friday that the lowered scholarship limit doesn’t close the loophole. He also stated there was significant pushback from coaches who believe they would be at some competitive disadvantage in recruiting against other conferences should the SEC adopt tougher standards, like the obvious one: a hard cap, which would allow a coach to sign only as many kids to letters as he has scholarships available.
“That’s the perception some have. I’m not sure that’s true,” McGarity said, alluding to coaches’ concerns.
But he still considers this progress, saying, “There’s no question it was a good day for the SEC. At the end of the day, the presidents’ vote was a move in the right direction. Does it solve the problem? No. But it does help.”
The fix needs to come at the NCAA level. But the SEC could’ve done more and not damaged its product or brand. Commissioner Mike Slive just handed out $18.3 million checks to member institutions. Business seems to be pretty good.
Mark Richt, in supporting elements of grayshirting, wondered the other day about the recruit who just really wants to go to Georgia and there’s no scholarship available. How about this: Go the “Rudy” route. Enroll as a student, try to make it as a walk on and maybe get a scholarship the following year. But no promises, no signatures, no funny numbers.
See how easy that was? And sorry, Nick: Nobody will be denied an opportunity. There are 119 Division 1 football programs not named Alabama.
When asked if he would like to see a hard cap on scholarships, McGarity said: “In a perfect world, yes. But we’re not in a perfect world.”
No. But we could’ve been a little closer.
By Jeff Schultz
Earlier post: SI says Richt has a better job than Saban (Alabama)
Earlier post: Spurrier’s pay petition meaningless but concept has merit
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC; friend me at Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
200 comments Add your comment
Tide Rising
June 3rd, 2011
10:54 pm
Tdawg
June 3rd, 2011
10:11 pm
Blackoutanyone are you retarted or just plain stupid? I’d go for retarted if I were you.- Tdawg
Priceless- a dawg fan calling a Bama fan retarted twice and not realizing that its actually spelled retarded.
trupert
June 3rd, 2011
10:31 pm
@Blackoutanyone, there you go again, always talking out your you know what.
You might want to check your stats trupert. Bama is 6th in the SEC in oversigning during the Saban era and if you include the 2011 class which only has 22 or 23 signees Bama is probably 7th or 8th in the conference.
SecGuy
June 3rd, 2011
10:54 pm
Even Richt said over-signing is ok if the kids know about it up front. That has always been the only uncomfortable issue with the practice, and it is largely a phony issue since the schools who use over-signing and gray shirting lay it all out in the beginning to the kids and parents, a fact that was largely unreported by the media. In the last two years, the only known instances of a kid being blind-sided in the SEC was LSU last year and South Carolina this year. Two instances out of hundreds of signees, yet Schultzy and the rest of the media have demagogued it to the point you would think it is a chronic problem. In the LSU case, the kid affected actually returned to LSU on his own volition after leaving in protest. Obviously he wasn’t as scarred-for-life over the disappointment as the hand-wringers in the media would have us believe. This was a feel-good decision for the media and presidents and nothing more, and much to the chagrin of many, will have no impact on Saban’s continued success.
SEC Fact Finder
June 3rd, 2011
10:54 pm
Just to clarify an argument that continues to flaw any conversation. Signing a player and enrolling a player are two separate issues. According to a report written 3 years ago by Stanford University and funded by the NCAA, the average number of players who qualify academically, Cleared by the Clearing House is 3.8 athletes less than the number of players signed by the SEC Schools on average. The ACC numbers were 3.4, the Big 10 was 3.2 and the PAC 10 was 4.1, while the Big 12 was 3.9. Those numbers were reflective of the years 2004- to 2007 and were before and after the 28 rule number was put in place.
The differences is that in most cases the recruiting coordinators and head coaches know certain players will never make it unless they attend a JC or a Prep school.
Does anyone on this blog have any idea of how many Football signees were drafted in Baseball and never put on shoulder pads at the school they signed with? In 2008 there were 11, in 2009 there were 8 and that is just the SEC. How many went to prep schools? 17, How many went to JC? 29
How many did not qualify and still never went to JC? 7 all in 2009.
During the years of 1998 to 2008 how many UGA signees went to Prep schools? I think the number will surprise you. For many many years the Hargrave Military school was known as UGA jr college for many many people looking for a way for a kid to get back home with a little extra help on the academic side.
Tide Rising
June 3rd, 2011
10:57 pm
LakeDawg
June 3rd, 2011
10:48 pm
I see you also failed to mention all those players who lose their scholly due to oversigning. I think you’re too close to the athletic side of college athletics and have a biased perspective.
Wrong lakedawg, If there isn’t room the player didn’t lose their scholly- they just have to defer enrollment by 1 semester. And often if a player can’t fit in at a power like LSU they usually have offers at places like UAB or South Florida and can go to those programs.
For the Love of....
June 3rd, 2011
11:01 pm
@Tide Rising
Buddy, get a life!
Who the hell is going to read that? It”s longer than War and Peace or Moby Dick for gosh sakes…..
I’m sure Paul Finebum will get to the bottom of the facts – right?
Tide Rising
June 3rd, 2011
11:01 pm
SEC Fact Finder,
Good point on the number of signees who end up not qualifying- almost 4 in the SEC. Somehow facts like this seem to escape Jeff and some of the other folks who whine about oversigning.
Tide Rising
June 3rd, 2011
11:02 pm
For the love of…
Few people will read it. But I guarantee jeff will read all of it.
Tide Rising
June 3rd, 2011
11:14 pm
al.com
June 3rd, 2011
10:42 pm
Hey bama boy explain to us all how $aban has 8 more players on the team than he has room for.and how every year about this time he always has a lot of medical hardships to be announced. How about bama’s record of medical hardships.
al.com,
Bama has had more than unusual medical schollies. So what? Its an anomaly that happens. Last year or the year before dawg fans on here were saying that UGA was crippled with something crazy like 20 or 30 season ending injuries. It happens. I also remember one Shula year where our first 3 tailbacks all were lost for the season with severe knee injuries. By the AU game we were literally down to Aaron Johns our 5th team tailback who was slated for a redshirt season. Unusual circumstances like that happen.
Also if Bama signed 8 more players than what it has room for its because of expected attrition due to recruits not qualifying, backcounting towards the previous class which is fine, and the fact that bama has 4 or more players- I wont name them, who come from wealthy families whose fathers can pay their tuition if need be in order to help the program. Nothing wrong with that. Also at least 1 player a year gets into legal or disciplinary problems and gets the boot. We don’t put up with 12 players a year getting arrested.
Tide Rising
June 3rd, 2011
11:15 pm
I’m out and have definitely said my piece. My Jeff and some of you numbskulls actually learned something about why coaches oversign. Its called attrition and it happens to every program.
Blackoutanyone?
June 3rd, 2011
11:17 pm
trupert…. your counting commits not actual players who signed a letter of intent and made it to campus. Many of those kids never stepped foot on the UA campus due to an inability to make the grades or pro baseball. You call me out and yet your counting commits? lol
Tide Rising… I feel we are waisting our time. The facts are lost on some and the SEC has done many of these people a great favor today. By not implementing a hard line on “oversigning” most of these people will continue to have that as their excuse of choice as to why Saban is out recruiting Richt. It’s all because of OVERSIGNING by evil Saban. Makes you wonder why kids line up to come to Bama if Saban is such a bad man.
SecGuy
June 3rd, 2011
11:27 pm
Schultz, I think the thing bothering Saban is that you and others never offer an objective viewpoint. You always portray it as kids being duped, which is basically a lie. They know the risks, you just take them for idiots. But I do enjoy how Saban gives you so much heartburn.
Blackoutanyone?
June 3rd, 2011
11:32 pm
jdawg…lol yes I did. I can only imagine how long it took you to come up with yours.
jumbeauxtiger
June 3rd, 2011
11:46 pm
Good to see you back Tide Rising, with a vengeance
Reid Adair
June 3rd, 2011
11:48 pm
Wow, Jeff. After all this time, I had no idea that was your purpose.
Thanks for allowing Coach Saban to share that with us!
SEC Fact Finder
June 3rd, 2011
11:48 pm
LakeDawg,
Name a player that lost a scholarship that signed with Alabama? There is none.
I just want to clarify one point that someone keeps repeating that is a total inaccurate statement.
Currently in the SEC, there are 107 Football players who play football but are NOT on Football scholarship, they are on academic scholarships. Vanderbilt leads the conference with 19, Florida has 8 or 9 depending on which report is correct, Alabama has 7, UGA has 4, Auburn has at last report 4. On top of that it is a fact that over 5 football players on Alabama’s 2010 roster are in school being paid by their parents who are very well to do families with histories at the University of Alabama.
Throwing the number 88 out there is a bold face fabricated number. Not going to argue a point that is opinion, just wanted to make sure some numbers reflect the truth to some degree.
trupert
June 3rd, 2011
11:52 pm
@Tide Rising. per Alabamas unhappy castaways.
At least 12 times since coach Nick Saban took over the program in 2007, Alabama has offered players a “medical” scholarship, according to public statements made by the team. These scholarships, which are allowed under NCAA rules, are intended to make sure scholarship athletes who are too injured to play don’t lose their financial aid. A player who receives one of these scholarships is finished playing with that team.
Three Alabama players who’ve taken these exemptions say they believe the team uses the practice as a way to clear spots for better players by cutting players it no longer wants. These players said they believe Mr. Saban and his staff pressure some players to take these scholarships even though their injuries aren’t serious enough to warrant keeping them off the field.
“I’m still kind of bitter,” said former Alabama linebacker Chuck Kirschman, who took a medical scholarship last year. Mr. Kirschman said Mr. Saban encouraged him to accept the scholarship because of a back problem that he believes he could have played through. “It’s a business,” Mr. Kirschman said. “College football is all about politics. And this is a loophole in the system.”
trupert
June 3rd, 2011
11:59 pm
Alabama rising, Why do you think the SEC is now going to monitor these medical hardships. It will forever be known as the Saban rule, and for good reason.
Rudy
June 4th, 2011
12:03 am
Yes, fewer medicals. I want to see more players nutting up and playing hurt, because football’s really become a sissy sport. If a kid can’t go 100%, put him on the scout team and beat on him until he quits. That’s the way they used to do it.
SEC Fact Finder
June 4th, 2011
12:04 am
trupert,
Did you know that Mr. Kirschman actually had to have surgery after his medical scholarship was accepted? That is a fact, reported that somehow goes unplublished that his back was far worse than even he realized less than one year later. Look it up, he recanted this story less than a year later and apologized for his aggressive tone in the article.
Rudy
June 4th, 2011
12:19 am
See? Kid got a free undergraduate and graduate education, plus medical care. He’d have been MUCH better off getting worked in practice until he quit or completely broke down. Builds character.
But a medical? Reprehensible.
i'm ga
June 4th, 2011
12:23 am
Schulz. I realize its part of your job description to be a whiny b_watch. However, this was a move in the right direction to equalize the sec playing field. As a UGA fan its my job to be happy about something that pulls saban back to the field
PTC DAWG
June 4th, 2011
12:25 am
The number of signees really seems to bother the Bama fans….they oversign…the SEC did something to address it…deal with it.
Out with it
June 4th, 2011
12:37 am
Let me guess, Jeff – you want 4 years, guaranteed, no matter what. Once granted, never revoked? For any reason other than a string of Fs or a felony?
If that’s not what you want, what’s an acceptable criteria? What’s your desired solution? Speak up. If they didn’t go far enough, who would you like the SEC to look like in their roster management and why?
yep
June 4th, 2011
12:47 am
congrats dawg fans…..this is the biggest win you have had in a while. Now it’s all fair huh……you bunch of cry babies.Just do something….please!!!!! anything!!!!
Tdawg
June 4th, 2011
12:48 am
Blackoutanyone?, so your statement about it being to easy to pander to the UGA crowd was not a shot at Georgia fans? Could have fooled the heck out of me. I’ve read a great deal of your post and you are one wishy washy poster. One post you’re berating Georgia and the very next post you are somewhat giving it some credit. I think that I read that statement correctly. That was not one of your ” giving Georgia fans credit” post.
Tdawg
June 4th, 2011
12:58 am
yep you beaten us one time in the past how many games? Yep we Georgia fans think that its a cold hearted you know what that will tell a kid. Come to my school. play some football, get a good education, blab, blab, lie, lie. A couple of days before signing day. Coach to kid. Sorry son, but we don’t have a opening for you.
To the idiot that says that they can always go to another school. Yea right. Just not a school that they would have chosen had the school that told them that they had a scholarship for them not lied to them.
Why are you Bama fans so dead set about doing the right thing? You accuse us of whining when all we are trying to do is look out for the kids. Obviously their parents aren’t doing so. We’re not doing half the whining that the Bama folk are doing now that the SEC has decided to do something about it, even though they have actually done nothing.
Recruitnik
June 4th, 2011
1:09 am
I just laugh at the bama fans commenting in this blog. You are freaking clueless.
yep
June 4th, 2011
1:18 am
Tdawg, thanks for your reply. I don’t really care how many times we have beaten you or you us. your school is so insignificant now and even dating back as far as you would like …… I also appreciate the fact that you are so supportive of the KIDS….seeing as that your team has probably spent more time in community service than any in the SEC.
This oversigning mess is so overblown….. But it is a way for your team to justify how much they have sucked. Your team can’t even beat the other “we dont oversign”.
RTR. it won’t matter..your the pretender!
Tdawg
June 4th, 2011
1:24 am
Tide Rising what does spelling have to do with being stupid or retarted or retarded? If I read all of your post and find an error which I would eventually do even if you are using your spell check. Would that make you stupid or retarded? Don’t think so. You could be a rocket scientist and still make errors. I wasn’t criticizing his pronunciation or his spelling. I was questioning his state of mind so get over yourself. You make mistakes no matter what you say.
yep
June 4th, 2011
1:26 am
fill us in recruitnik
A-Ville Ranger
June 4th, 2011
1:31 am
Yes there is still room for manipulation but much less than before. Having only a maximum of 100 signees over 4 years doesn’t leave that many players per year to cull. Normal attrition will make the numbers close to 85 without running people off.
Tdawg
June 4th, 2011
1:43 am
yep, refresh my memory a little. Just how significant was Alabama last season? Seem’s to me that Bama is doing a little bit of pretending themselves. You’ve had two very good years. The way you Bama folk talk BS you’d think that it was a ten year run. You’re on your way back down to, what was that? Oh yea, you’re well on your way to being insignificant.
As far as our kids getting in trouble with the law. Kids will be kids and if you think for one second that the Bama kids aren’t doing the same as the Georgia kids then sir your’re, well lets just say that you are most assuredly in another realm of reality. The biggest difference Between Georgia and Alabama is that the law in Georgia is actually doing their job while the Bama law is turning their backs to the crimes committed by your kids.
Kdj
June 4th, 2011
2:15 am
Enter your comments here
Kdj
June 4th, 2011
2:20 am
Nice hatchet job. Don’t mention that Saban discusses all options with the kids and families beforehand. Don’t mention, that if the SEC decides a kid doesn’t get a med scholly approved by the SEC, he gets cut for lying about a physical ailment and gets no college education. Don’t mention that theater is no valid argument
Dawg48
June 4th, 2011
3:06 am
It’s all about the money!
Dawg48
June 4th, 2011
3:17 am
Get rid of verbal commitments. If a kid is ready to commit to a school let him sign a letter of commitment then and when a school has reached the maximum numbers of openings then their recruiting is over for the year. So many times a kid will commit to a school then on signing day change schools and the school is left out. They over target kids to make sure their needs are met and if you also move back signing day to enrollment time for schools their would not be any mistake if a kid can get in academically. This way their will be no oversigning or loose a kid on signing day Or to academics.
Homepage | MrSEC.com
June 4th, 2011
5:52 am
[...] 2. Jeff Schultz: “The SEC, as the highest-profile college football conference in the nation, had a chance to make a loud statement at its meetings this week. It kind of wimped out.” [...]
It Ain't Rocket Science
June 4th, 2011
7:08 am
Ethics Committee,
You have probably posted about the dumbest statement on these blogs I have ever seen. It is apparent,your hate of UGA has affected you mentally. If you really are a tech. fan, I would say their mentality has managed to drop about ten points, if you are a student. It is bad enough if you are just a fan.
» SEC: Did oversigning rule go too far, not far enough? John Clay’s Sidelines
June 4th, 2011
7:10 am
[...] The SEC didn’t go nearly enough, writes Jeff Schultz of the AJC. [...]
saban haters club
June 4th, 2011
7:29 am
hope all the boys and girls got all of that angst out. now, is there anyone who’d like to say something nice about CNS?
Gatorman
June 4th, 2011
7:34 am
Will everyone just calm down! So they move people in and out based on their talent level, and student-athlete is a joke. Now they want to pay athletes to come and get an education (that cost an over $100,00 loan otherwise). Education dumbed down a long time ago, so don’t be morally indignant now folks, that boat has already sailed. If college football wasn’t the most lucrative sport (save the NFL), then changing rules and enforcing rules would be easy. College football is a college business because we started bringing in non-students to play the game decades ago. So shut up and enjoy the game!!
GR82BAG8R
June 4th, 2011
7:34 am
Simple solution to this problem: When you sign someone to an athletic scholarship, it for a degree, not for one year at a time. As long as the the athlete is in good academic standing you cannot withdraw the scholarship. If they decide to leave, you get your scholarship back. If they do something stupid (as some college kids are prone to do) you can revoke the scholarship. Otherwise, no exceptions.
Once you put that in place, raise the limit of those on scholarship to 100. If this is about giving kids an opportunity to get an education, then allow the athletes to get one, without looking over their shoulder at a bigger/faster/stronger/etc. player about to be signed.
Uncle Ricky
June 4th, 2011
7:38 am
Do you think this gives Corch Richt more time to work on his fabulous tan? Or what about more time to pursue his diving expertise?
GR82BAG8R
June 4th, 2011
7:39 am
Gatorman, the less challenging fields of study were not invented by the athletic departments, but by the academic elite in the 1960’s in response to the Vietnam War. As long as you were in college you could get a draft deferment. Basketweaving courses and majors were created to provide sanctuaries for those drafted or high on the Selective Service list. The athletic departments took advantage of this situation.
Matt
June 4th, 2011
7:46 am
I generally don’t get fired up over comments on blog postings, but when Dawglasville places UGA and UF in a category with Vandy regarding academics, I had to post after I stopped laughing uncontrollably for a few minutes.
Give me a break, dude. Vanderbilt is a top-20 institution and UGA is a top-100 institution. Comparing them academically is like comparing Vandy and UGA in football. UF and UGA are football factories andgood state schools, but they are not in Vandy’s class academically. We know our role – know yours.
Saywhut
June 4th, 2011
7:47 am
Amen! People like Saban are nothing more than overpaid hypocrites. Student-Athletes? Pah!
Matt
June 4th, 2011
7:50 am
This is not a Bama v. the SEC issue. This is an SEC/Big 12 v. Big Ten/Pac 12 issue. My opinion is that SEC and Big 12 schools (outside of Vanderbilt and Baylor) have to resort to oversigning because the kind of kid they sign is a greater risk to flunk out, so the SEC schools need the wiggle room. Pac 12 and Big Ten schools generally don’t do this. Big 12 and SEC schools do. The SEC and Big 12 are trying to push the media and NCAA back without losing an advantage they know they need.
Saywhut
June 4th, 2011
7:53 am
Hey Matt: Florida and Georgia are harder to get into than Vanderbilit. It’s a fact!
The oversigning is dead! Long live the oversigning! | Get The Picture
June 4th, 2011
8:00 am
[...] that a big deal? Eh, I’m not sure it’s as big as some make it out to be, at least in a conference where roster evaluations like the one we recently saw take place at [...]
Cloudodust
June 4th, 2011
8:04 am
Isn’t it weird that a game that began for fun has gotten so convoluted…