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
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200 comments Add your comment
bamaguy
June 4th, 2011
8:14 am
I don’t read the ajc expecting any fair treatment of my alma mater. The primary purpose of sports writing is to sell newspapers and advertising in the circulation area.
The success of Florida, Auburn and Alabama football gnaws at the heart of the UGA faithful and the ajc panders to that pain.
Ben
June 4th, 2011
8:15 am
They called Coach Bryant a scumbag and every other name in the book too so nothing’s changed there. Just more sour grapes from the losers in the SEC. College football is like politics, if you can’t stand the heat, move on.
Buckeye
June 4th, 2011
8:24 am
Seems to me the SEC is all about abusing a kid…..”sorry, son, you just ain’t good enough”
Tressel was out to protect a kid albeit by sordid methods.
Who’s the villan?
DAWG
June 4th, 2011
8:41 am
The NCAA is trying to build a better mouse trap in regards to over signing. Be assured a coach will find a way around this. As far as I can see the NCAA could not find their way out of a paper bag, illegal recruiting and players being paid still exists in the SEC, not all but some.
Boobie Bowden
June 4th, 2011
8:43 am
“Mark Richt is a good man and a lousy football coach.” Anonymous dawg on the radio last week.
Jenny
June 4th, 2011
9:16 am
“Forrest, have you ever been with a woman?” “I sit next to them in my Home Economics class.”
dmr
June 4th, 2011
9:35 am
“NCAA moral compass be damned.” It is the NCAA who should be damned. Spare me the idea that the NCAA has a moral compass. I never had complete faith in the NCAA. However, I completely lost all faith in the Organization when, after the Ohio State FIVE were originally found to have committed wrongdoing, they were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl, only to have their punishment pushed out a year.
I keep hearing that Ohio State needs to be a winning team for College Football to be “good”. Hogwash. Alabama went through poor times recently and so has Michigan. It hasn’t killed the game.
Over-signing may be a problem, but the NCAA is the bigger problem. Prove yourself to be a neutral party regardless of who commits infractions. Then I’ll believe in your “moral compass”.
It Ain't Rocket Science
June 4th, 2011
9:47 am
Buckeye,
You are making a blanket statement when you say the SEC is out to abuse a kid. Not all schools in the SEC disregard what is best for the kid.
And to try and pass along that Tressel was trying to protect a kid. Which one would that be. Tressel was trying to cover his lower posterior area and it back fired on him. Give me a break.
You may not like the state school that you live in, but do you honestly think that CMR is cut throat and only out for his best interest? If OSU is forced to sacrifice 2010 due to his “trying to Protect” a kid,” who indeed is the villain.
bamaguy
June 4th, 2011
10:05 am
I don’t think Mark Richt is cut throat but I do think he is out for his own best interest. All coaches are out for their own best interest. Coaching is their profession. Loyalty is for fans who have no financial stake in the success of their team.
Muschamp didn’t go to Florida as an act of disloyalty to UGA, he did it to advance himself in the coaching profession and thereby provide for his family. If RIcht leaves or is fired Kirby Smart will likely return to UGA. It will not be due to his love of UGA, it will be because it would be a career advancement. He might end up going to Ohio State if Richt remains at UGA.
How many of you have turned down a promotion opportunity because you were “loyal” to your old boss?
Lol
June 4th, 2011
10:06 am
Is this Jeff or Cynthia Tucker?
MikeP
June 4th, 2011
10:22 am
12 SEC coaches, a unanimous number, voted against this legislation. The reason is very clear, this does NOTHING to address the oversigning issue and puts the league at a competitive disadvantage with the other conferences.
It may make the league presidents feel good to raise their hands and shout “Look at us, we’re Mr, Goody two-shoes”, but that’s all it accomplished beside making it easier for ACC and other teams to win games vs the SEC.
I think the SEC presidents are gutless wonders that caved in to pressure from the media to “do something, even if it’s wrong.”
CLINTON (I lied too--so what)
June 4th, 2011
10:30 am
Jan Kemp was a weirdo in the 80s and the lack of ethics committee is even weirder with the negative comments that make no sense. You just don’t like UGA and are using any chance to make negative remarks. You are a skank my friend.
you bama boys
June 4th, 2011
10:36 am
tide rising and the rest of you RTR’ers……
I agree with what you say regarding all of this. Thank you for the enjoyable and educational reading. WDE!
The issues are not oversigning, but over-enrolling, not attrition, but forced attrition. I don’t believe the problem is widespread, with only a few isolated cases (LSU/USCe). The media missed the ball completely with this….missed the entire ballpark rather.
It Ain't Rocket Science
June 4th, 2011
10:36 am
Mike P,
Perhaps you could explain why you think it puts the SEC at a disadvantage. If it is only that they will not be able to freely distribute red shirts and gain an advantage by basically dismissing a player, who turns out not to be the next great player, I don’t see that as a disadvantage. I call that returning some integrity to the SEC, and considering all the hits the SEC gets from the NCAA, I don’t consider it a bad thing. If anything, this change will put every coach on the same level playing field when it comes to this area.
By tightening the rules on the number of signees each year, all you are forcing the coaches to do, is evaluate a little better, and be honest with the kid you recruit. The kid makes a commitment as well as the coach and both should be required to honor it. Granted the players, can always transfer but if it is to another DIV. 1 school, he has to sit out a whole year before he has a chance to play for his new school.
Joe
June 4th, 2011
10:42 am
Tide Rising, you’re a scumbag of epic proportions, and Bama is a cess pool
bamaguy
June 4th, 2011
10:45 am
and I hope Joe isn’t an actual UGA alum but rather just a fan. It is usually easy to tell them apart (and that goes for all schools, not just Georgia)
Dr. Phil
June 4th, 2011
10:52 am
The SEC Presidents’ meeting resembles a parle of pirates in a Jack Sparrow movie. They aren’t gutless when it comes to advancing their own self interests. I do not understand how a coach can deny a scholarship to a player who signs with a school and meets admission standards. There is an interesting book called The Thin Thirty about Charlie Bradshaw forcing players to quit at UK and tricking them into giving up their scholarship. I understood that, at least in the past, the scholarship was a permanent agreement between the player and the school and was void only if the player flunked out or committed a crime. If that is not the rule now, it should be.
GR82BAG8R
June 4th, 2011
10:52 am
Buckeye, are you serious???? Do you really believe Tressel was trying to protect the “kids”? He was hoping and praying no one would find out. They did. He paid. Now THE Ohio State University will also pay.
Bodda Getta
June 4th, 2011
11:38 am
Richt won’t be around next year to whine about this anymore.
This issue is closed.
MassiveDawg
June 4th, 2011
11:43 am
Finally, Schultz writes a decent article…
Blackoutanyone?
June 4th, 2011
11:44 am
Tdawg…. I usually only post in the recruiting blog as it relates to Bama prospects and try to avoid the mudslinging but it can be fun from time to time. I think your taking this a little too serious. Bama fans will defend our program just as any other SEC fan base will. That is usually when I get drug into a crap throwing contest with individuals like yourself. I respect your passion for the Bulldogs. Calling me “retarted” lol…is just part of talking football in the SEC. As for last years team. Something you need to understand. While preseason rankings mean very little… it is very important to be in the conversation. Alabama was and will be in the conversation for the BCS national championship for many years to come. Hopefully Richt will turn it around this year and UGA will be in the conversation by week 3. That is actually my prediction and I have been on record for many months. As for pandering to the UGA fan base… that’s exactly what Schultz did. Oversigning has been a hot topic in Georgia as Richt was on record a few weeks ago saying he would never do it. Most fans on these forums have jumped in line and love to use it as the reason Richt has lost Georgia prospects to Alabama. So I feel it was a cheap shot at Saban and an attempt to pander to the UGA crowd. Not sure why you take exception to that… not like calling you retarted or something. ROLL TIDE
Mike
June 4th, 2011
11:44 am
Schultz,
You’d bitch if you were hung with a new rope. The real world is tough. Ask all of us that have lost our jobs in this economy. If you don’t like the way football is run, then go report on something else. There are several others at the AJC you can take with you. Bad journalism is why I finally dropped my paper subscription after 20+ years.
heartofdarkness
June 4th, 2011
11:54 am
Jeff, the lesson seems to be: “If it ain’t broke (i.e., you’re caught, indicted, and can’t find a jury you can buffalo), don’t fix it (i.e., rules will bend around a football like light in the presence of mass). You never seem to learn. I did like the analogy to the Securities and Exchange Commission and it’s ostensible purpose to provide the illusion of legitimacy in a similar ethical vacuum. Maybe the best solution is to have all roster management activity made public and accessible, and take measure of the public’s capacity to accept the sausage.
Bama Ramma
June 4th, 2011
11:55 am
This new rule is terrible. Coach Saban is furious! Look for this rule to be changed back next year with some bigtime pressure from the Alabama AD and president.
Paul in RDU
June 4th, 2011
12:04 pm
Old SEC math 28 + 28 + 28 + 28 = 85
New SEC math 25 + 25 + 25 + 25 = 85
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
12:21 pm
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.- Trupert
WRONG Trupert. The info you got was from a WSJ article on oversigning. That’s what it says in the headlines. When you actually READ the article you will see that 2 of the 3 players had nothing negative to say about Bama or the medical redshirts they received. They did not say that Bama pressures players into taking medical redshirts. Only the author claims that. READING is fundamental my friend. And also 12 career ending medical injuries over 4-5 years is really not that unusual. It just means we had a bad run of injuries like Tyrone Prothro’s injury. Are you going to dispute the medical staff? Are you an orthopedic surgeon? And did you ever consider the flip siding? Looking at a kid’s future health and realizing that even if its possible for him to come back and play that its really not worth re-endangering his health? No. Obviously you didn’t.
“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
Trupert, as a fellow bama blogger noted Kirschman had to have back surgery a year after his medical redshirt. The injury was far more severe than he thought. He recanted his negative statement and apologized for being wrong about the extent of the injury. Incidentally he had been on the team 4 years and the medical redshirt didn’t come until his 5th year. Bama paid for him to get his masters degree- took him 5 1/2 years and if I remember correctly and Bama paid for the extra semester over his 5 years of eligibility in order for him to finish his masters. And as I’ve said he is the one single Bama player on record for criticizing medical redshirts and the man recanted.
ClassicDawg
June 4th, 2011
12:23 pm
“People bring it up that I’ve medical-ed more people,”Nick Saban said in response to criticism about his practices. “Well, yeah, I medical them so they can stay in school and graduate where other people just get rid of them.”
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
12:27 pm
Joe
June 4th, 2011
10:42 am
Tide Rising, you’re a scumbag of epic proportions, and Bama is a cess pool- Joe
Joe,
My, I guess when the facts aren’t on your side you just resort to name calling. Is that all you got?
Jumbeauxtiger,
Glad to see you’re back also buddy. 91 days till kickoff. Something tells me the national title game could well come down to LSU at Bama on Nov. 5th. Both programs are freaking loaded. And lets not forget Ark and MSU which both are going to field some really good teams.
I had to vent on this subject because there’s so much ignorance and misinformation out there on this oversigning issue. There is a reason why all 12 coaches- even Richt- voted to keep the signing limit at 28 as opposed to 25. You would think that would tell Schultz and the other ignoramuses on here what the coaches are saying. You would think anyway….
Dawg Tired
June 4th, 2011
12:30 pm
Good points Jeff. The obvious answer, as you understand, is you should never be allowed to have more than 85 kids on scholarship. Nevertheless, as I stated in response to your other article on this subject. as long as the policing of the scholarship process is in the hands of the SEC office this will not be effective. Anyone who can read knows that Cam Newton was ineligible under the current SEC rules as written. As long as folks who can’t read are in charge of overseeing the scholarship process, Nick Saban will do exactly as he pleases. As I also stated in my earlier comment, Nick Saban is a whole lot smarter than anyone in the “SEC office.” Houston Nutt? Not so much.
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
12:33 pm
Dawg Tired
June 4th, 2011
12:30 pm
Good points Jeff. The obvious answer, as you understand, is you should never be allowed to have more than 85 kids on scholarship.- Dawg Tired
Dawg Tired,
It sounds like you misunderstand the issue. Nobody plays with more than 85 scholarship players. Not Saban, Nutt, or anyone. When fall comes everybody will be at 85 or less scholarship players.
Dawg Tired
June 4th, 2011
12:34 pm
Obviously – The point I was trying to make, apparently not clearly enough, was that you can only sign a number in any given year that, when added to those already on scholarship, equals 85. Like I tell my law students, I can explain to you but I can;t understand for you. Either you see it or you don’t.
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
12:47 pm
Dawg Tired,
And apparently you are completely lacking in understanding as to the other main points of the entire article. Coaches oversign by a significant amount because there is going to be natural attrition. If you sign 85 players over 4 years you will probably only end up with about 65-70 players. Why? Because several that you sign in a freshman class won’t even qualify academically. In the SEC it averages right around 4 signees per year which over 4 years means you will lose 15-16 players right there. Then there are signees who make it on campus but who end up not being on the team for all sorts of reasons such as being booted because of legal or disciplinary trouble, career ending injuries, voluntary transfers due to being buried on the depth chart. The natural attrition in many cases is far more than 15 players over 4 years and that sir is the problem. Now do you understand? AU and UT had a couple of years of unusally high attrition and both are still well under the scholarship limit of 85.
Dawg Tired
June 4th, 2011
12:53 pm
I do agree with Saban on a key point. Here’s the problem illustrated by a hypo: Suppose Ole Miss has 60 guys on scholarship. Then they sign 32 the next year on signing day. They oversigned because 8 to 10 of their signees may not actually qualify. Let;s say that only 4 do not qualify. Now Ole Miss has to do something to get down to 85. In the past they might grayshirt 3 guys or lose 3 guys already on campus to academic attrition, etc. With a hard number approach like I have proposed, kids who are potentially non-qualifiers will not be getting as many offers because of the lack of wiggle room. That bothers me, but so long as some coaches openly abuse the process, I would rather simply let those kids be recruited only by the jucos and let them get recruited later (after they actually qualify). Admittedly a tough call. I suppose that was a concern of the presidents and may explain why they opted for the 25 a year limit.
Dawg Tired
June 4th, 2011
12:55 pm
TR _ I understand that. See my previous comment. Admittedly the problem is not all that simple. I am primarily concerned about abuse. Most coaches are able to work under the present system without abusing it, i.e., using it to get rid of those who turn out not to be as good as originally projected. It is quite clear that “stuff happens” that is beyond the control of the coaching staff such as transfers, injuries, academic attrition, non-qualifiers, etc. Oversigning by 2 – 4 to cover such stuff seem ok to me. I believe most coaches have operated in good faith. However, the pressure to win has obviously caused some to abuse the process and that is the problem.
dawgster
June 4th, 2011
12:57 pm
I’m not going to dwell inot the specifics of what coach is or is not doing, bottomline it evidently is a problem and certain schools, which seem to choose to make excuses for it have a problem..I think the NCAA needs to address the situation but I think the SEC has at least made an effort to prevent some of the abuses that are going on…Its amazing though to read some comments that Shultz is pandering to UGA…Are you kidding me…He is and has always been one of our biggest critics, so I can’t buy that one…
I don’t pretend to have the answer as so many on here seem to have, but hopefully kids that want to come to your school can still have that opportunity whether by grayshirting or walk-on…Thats the way it should be and there should be no pressuring a young man to leave, unless its due to grades on off field issues, etc…Anyone having a problem with whats going on or has been going on is in denial in my opinion…But I will agree this is not all about Saban, Nutt, or Spurrier….At some point I’m sure all schools have sat down with a young man and had some discussions…What the SEC is trying to do is addressing some of the abuses by some coaches, and yes there have been some, no need to deny it, and make it a level playing field…but again, to think Shultz is pandering to the dawg nation…read most of his negative articles towards UGA and Coach Richt…I have and I totally agree with Shultz on this one….go dawgs
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
12:59 pm
The only coach who openly abused the process was probably Houston Nutt when he signed 37 players. He knew most of them weren’t going to qualify but signed them anyway to build rapport with the JC colleges he sent them to and to mentally give them the idea that when they got their grades up and qualified that they were still mentally committed to Ole Miss. Saban signed over 30 one time only. That was in 08 and of those 32 he knew 4 were borderline and they ended up not qualifying. 2 of them he knew there was a good chance of them playing pro baseball depending on the draft and sure enough they ended up playing baseball. 2 other casualties meant that when the freshman class reported in the fall that bama came in 1 scholly under the 85 man limit. And this was with the largest class Saban has ever signed.
Dawg Tired
June 4th, 2011
1:01 pm
TR – What would you propose to prevent abuse such as you describe by Nutt? You seem to have thought about the problem in some depth.
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
1:07 pm
Dawgster,
What abuses do you refer to? Your statement seems vague. There are only 2 abuses I’ve seen- 1 is Nutt signing 37 players to build relationships. The other is that Miles and Spurrier oversigned and had several borderline guys that they didn’t expect to qualify academically. All of them qualified and that meant 1 or 2 players couldn’t enroll and would have to defer enrollment by 1 semester. All that happened here is that the coaches did a poor job of explaining to 1 or 2 players that if every single player qualified that they may have to take a greyshirt and defer enrollment. That’s it. That’s been the only real problem- 2 coaches who didn’t do a good job of explaining to 1 or 2 recruits that there was a possibility of a greyshirt if everyone qualified. Bama under Saban has had 1 or maybe 2 greyshirted players in the last few years but in the recruiting process it was carefully explained to each of them that this was a possibility if everyone qualified.
Delbert D.
June 4th, 2011
1:08 pm
Will Roster Management be offered as a major at SEC schools?
Blackoutanyone?
June 4th, 2011
1:18 pm
Tide Rising… thank you for the fact based and educational posts. For every poster like Joe there are 20 others who have read your posts and are much more educated on the situation as a whole. Hope to see you on the recruiting side. Do you think moving signing day into early June after these kids have qualifed or not would make a difference?
Dawgster… in Alabama we have Kevin Scarbinsky. He spends alot of time taking shots at Saban in his poorly researched articles. From time to time he will pander to the UA fan base as well. It’s about selling papers and viewers to their respective web sites. Again my post was not a shot at the UGA program or fanbase. Just my opinion of this article.
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
1:19 pm
Dawg Tired,
The imposed limit of 28 was just fine- there was no reason to mess with it. Here is my big issue with this whole thing- its 2 fold. As you pointed out players on the academic fringe now may not be offered because a coach has less wiggle room- so that means these players may lose out the opportunity for a scholly even if they do end up qualifying. And that’s a shame.
Secondly I think its a moral issue. Most of these schollys go to young black men- many of them from disadvantaged backgrounds. When you have hard caps there are going to be years when unusual attrition hits certain programs and those programs end up way under the limit.
2 good examples. When Kiffin came to UT 11 players transferred and there was unusual attrition. UT actually played with only 68 scholarship players Kiffin’s first year. That’s 17 schollies, most of which go to underprivileged young black men, that go to waste. If you can’t oversign the next several years to catch up to the 85 man limit then that’s nothing more than unused schollies going to waste.
Same thing happened to AU. In Tubbs last class 40% of his recruits never made it in. AU has been oversigning like crazy the last 2 years and even with a 25 man freshman class reporting in the fall AU will be 7 under the limit at 78 total players in the fall. That’s 7 schollies going to waste and the same year that Kiffin had only 68 players I believe AU had only 72 players on scholly.
With the new 25 man cap it will probably still take AU and UT a few more years of hoping everyone qualifies to get up to the 85 man limit like everyone else. That’s just wasted schollies. If they were allowed to oversign then sure 1 or possibly 2 players a year would maybe have to greyshirt and delay enrollment 1 semester but what’s worse? That 1 or 2 players that needed development time anyway sit out a semester and work on building their bodies at a gym? Or lots of scholarships going unused all because some self righteous blowhards whined about oversigning? In the case of UT and AU in 1 year alone that amounted to about 30 schollies 13 at AU and 17 at UT that just went to waste. And that is not right.
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
1:26 pm
Delbert D.
June 4th, 2011
1:08 pm
Will Roster Management be offered as a major at SEC schools?
Saban has a Phd in it. Saban does have a little trick up his sleeve also. He has a minimum of 4 Bama players that come from very wealthy families where their fathers are alumni. It is rumored that at least a couple of these players families are paying or have paid their kids own way in order to help out Alabama with schollies for other players. Perfectly legal but in all the ranting about Saban’s numbers people don’t know things like that. Also as much as Bama oversigns Saban came out and publicly stated that last year Bama was actually under the 85 man limit. He probably left a couple of spots open so that he could back count some players this year if he oversigns. As it is though he only signed 22 or 23 players this year instead of his average of 26-27 players a year.
Dawg Tired
June 4th, 2011
1:28 pm
TR – Thanks for your thoughts.
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
1:34 pm
Blackout,
I wouldn’t want to move signing day to June. The recruiting process is already so intense that it would just put too much pressure on both coaches and recruits. If anything I think they should have an early signing period for the kids that absolutely know where they want to go- such as Dec. 31st. But that idea got nixed of course. As much as Scarbinsky takes shots at Bama I still read him.
This isn’t the first time Jeff has poorly researched an issue. If he was going to call Saban one of the 2 worst offenders you would think the least he could have done was look at the facts. And the fact is that in the Saban era Bama is at worst 6th and probably more likely 7th or 8th in the sec if you include the 2011 class in terms of oversigning. But I guess Jeff doesn’t bother with pesky things like FACTS.
SecGuy
June 4th, 2011
1:35 pm
Well, at least it’s over now for a while. The most disappointing aspect of this whole issue was how Schultz and the moralizing media at large deliberately told only half the story of over-signing. They created a fictional narrative and passed it off as fact. Blogs were repeatedly used to construct a heartbreaking story of poor, unsuspecting recruits having the rug pulled out from under them at the last minute, losing their scholarships, having their lives wrecked, destroying any chance at success in life.
The whole story was rarely offered — that signees are told up front about the policies and risks and that they are perfectly free to opt in or decline. In other words, taking a real life decision and living with it. For some reason Schultz considers such a concept to be immoral, yet neither he or his supporters ever explains why. It was also never mentioned that the worst case scenario for these kids is that they could wind up transferring to another school, still on scholarship so their educational opportunities and dreams would still be intact, just at a different location. Hardly a tragic outcome. They created uproars over two mistakes made at LSU and South Carolina the last two years and ignored the over five hundred other signees without issues during the same period. But to acknowledge such facts would seriously weaken the “poor victim” thesis of the sham.
By not telling the whole story, Schultz is essentially a liar. He chooses to demagogue on one side. And at first glance it appeared that his efforts had prevailed. But it’s clear the changes weren’t nearly as radical as the he had hoped for, after all Schultz is a nanny and nannies are never be satisfied until everyone has a trophy. But maybe now “Nanny” Schultz can move on to “fix” other burning issues, such as the cowbells of Miss. St.
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
1:36 pm
Dawg Tired,
One other thing. Those recruits that you pointed out that are on the fringe as far as qualifying academically? As you stated if the coaches have less wiggle room to sign players on the fringe of qualifying academically then these players will fall through the cracks and just end up in JUCO.
An unintended consequence is that if these players know that a coach won’t offer them because its questionable as to whether or not they will qualify then what incentive do they then have to do the right thing and hit the books and study hard to qualify if they know they’re not going to be offered?
Did Jeff or any of the other blowhards railing about oversigning think about that? Probably not.
Anyway I’ve done my own share of railing so I’m out to hit the pool. You guys have a good weekend.
Tide Rising
June 4th, 2011
1:46 pm
SecGuy,
Don’t forget also that although mistakes were made in the recruitment of 1 or 2 guys at LSU and South Carolina that those guys still had offers to greyshirt. They would simply have had to enroll 1 semester later if they wanted to play at their dream school. It wasn’t the end of the world for these guys. And if they are the marginal, last guys in a class- usually lineman- then they could use that extra time to bulk up in the gym and get a head start before enrolling. As you stated its not anywhere near as bad as Jeff makes it out to be. Anyway I’m out.
The SEC Fans
June 4th, 2011
2:05 pm
We just want to see the best players play.
If a player is not good enough, then welcome to the real world.
Richt can continue to live in his fantasy world.
Vulture
June 4th, 2011
2:24 pm
Alabama Whiners Blog – Too Funny!
I bet if you Saban fans read the blogs in some other SEC states you will be whining there too.
Whiskey Breath
June 4th, 2011
2:44 pm
Jeff, I have never seen you work this hard. Is your editor putting the screws to you? You have always been lazy, so I am a little perplexed. For a lazy man to call anyone morally reprehensible, I want to laugh. If the rule was morally reprehensible, the SEC sure as hell took their time putting it in. The SEC has been around for 60 plus years. So now that get a conscience? So now you have decided what is moral. Go back to writing your short, safe, articles. You do realize, only in Ga would you still be around?