Scholarship guarantees, early signing would curb oversigning
An early signing period would've prevented Justin Taylor's disappearing scholarship. (AP photo)
One week after leading Alabama to its second BCS title in three seasons, Nick Saban reaffirmed that his commitment to winning isn’t necessarily rooted in a commitment to doing things the right way.
Saban informed Justin Taylor, a North Atlanta High School running back, that he was yanking his scholarship offer from 11 months ago. Eleven months ago. Never mind that Taylor was the seventh oral commitment for Alabama’s 2012 class. Nor that he was a good kid, a terrific player and hadn’t once screamed, “War Eagle!” This is the ugly side of college football that coaches hide between the disingenuous, “Don’t worry, momma, I’ll take care of your boy,” speeches.
The substance of a coach’s word morphs from oak to oatmeal when he finds a faster, stronger player.
This is a form of “oversigning” (or in this case overcommitting) in recruiting, a reprehensible practice we’ve banged on several times before. A coach will accept more commitments than he actually has scholarships to give out. His objective: To fix the scholarship numbers by coercing perceived underachieving athletes to transfer or accept medical hardships, thereby creating space to bring in better players. It’s the quickest route for a coach to lessen his own mistakes or shortcomings.
Forget that whole concept of commitment, four-year scholarships and the mission of college athletics. That went out with 8-millimeter film.
Saban and LSU’s Les Miles are two of the biggest abusers of oversigning. Saban and Les Miles also just faced each other for the BCS title. That’s not a coincidence, coaching talents notwithstanding.
With increasing attention being paid to this topic in the past two years, the NCAA and SEC (where some of the biggest abusers thrive) have attempted to curb the problem by lowering scholarship limits. But that isn’t nearly enough. Lowering the cap doesn’t prevent coaches from bending ethical borders to reach that cap. Case in point: Justin Taylor.
Georgia Tech athletic director Dan Radakovich believes, “For the vast majority of coaches, this is not an issue. Ninety percent of coaches abide by the rules and do things the right way.”
I agree. The problem is that the other 10 percent generally are the ones competing for championships.
The NCAA last week announced tougher sanctions against repeated rules-breakers (good), but it did little to close the loopholes on the oversigning issue. Here are a few things that would help:
• 1.) A coach can’t sign more players than he has slots available. If a committed player then fails to qualify academically, gets arrested or the like, that’s on the coach. Go sign somebody else. Every coach would be on equal ground.
• 2.) Scholarships are guaranteed for four or five years. Currently, it’s a series of one-year renewables.
• 3.) Football should have an early signing period, like basketball. If Taylor had signed his national letter of intent in February, it would be a binding agreement. Neither he nor Saban could pull a U-turn.
• 4.) The NCAA should form an impartial panel to oversee any athlete-coach disputes where there’s even the remote possibility of a player being coerced into leaving or becoming a medical hardship. Currently, disputes are settled by committees on the individual campuses.
Seriously, is there a panel in Tuscaloosa that’s going to side against Saban or in Baton Rouge that would go against Miles?
Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity, among those who has spoken out against oversigning, said: “I think if there were a body that was not a part of the institution, certainly there would be a more consistent ruling or outcome there.”
He said “there are pros and cons” to an early signing period, but that it also might help, noting it works in basketball, volleyball and soccer.
Of course, football coaches are against early signing. They like having the flexibility to renege on commitments and playing with numbers. They’re going to be against any rule that adds clarity to an issue and eliminates the gray, eliminates their ability to manipulate a situation and get an edge.
As McGarity said, “If a coach makes a mistake in recruiting, that’s not the student-athlete’s fault.”
If college coaches want that freedom, let’s call this what it is: pro sports. Sign players, cut them, trade them — and pay them. But if we’re trying to maintain some illusion that this is still amateur athletics, some safeguards are needed because coaches aren’t going to police themselves.
Previous columns on oversigning
• SEC didn’t go nearly far enough with oversigning
• NCAA has lost sight of its mission by allowing oversigning
• A word about oversigning (and revisiting Saban’s dance)
By Jeff Schultz
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491 comments Add your comment
Knutt Sack
January 21st, 2012
9:40 am
Perspective
January 21st, 2012
9:28 am
Bama Diehard, this should help you follow. Alabama is a dirty program, and will get caught.
That is you wishing in one hand and hoping in the other. And you do not dare want to get into a discussion about how three players( one being IC ) landed at UGA last year. You may want to look at your boosters and understand every school and I mean every school has overzeolous boosters.
Bama Diehard
January 21st, 2012
9:41 am
Loyal dawg, (my discloser, I married a Georgia Bulldawg). Civility use to be easy until the internet. The thing I’m always curious about is the fact that Saban and Miles are not the worst offenders of this policy, just look at the numbers of ll the schools the past five years. It’s just funny how they always draw the ire of the AJC as the only ones doing anything wrong.
Loyal Dawg
January 21st, 2012
9:42 am
Auburn… now there is some question marks!
Perspective
January 21st, 2012
9:42 am
Bama Diehard does indeed make one point. He speaks of how glorious Alabama is, and then says, “I’m off to the aquarium in my fine homestate of Georgia.” Another truth is, if you really thought Alabama was such a fine state, you would rather reside there. But, you choose to live in Georgia. Actions speak louder than words, neighbor.
Bama Diehard
January 21st, 2012
9:46 am
Perspective, stop acting like you know what goes on behind the scenes at these schools because you don’t and you know you don’t. Hang in there, better days are ahead.
Bama Diehard
January 21st, 2012
9:49 am
Perspective, I have many UGA alumni as friends. Off the top of my head, two are in California, one in Texas, one in Dubai, two living in Japan. Does this speak volumns about them? Your showing your immaturity and age. Go outside and play.
Knutt Sack
January 21st, 2012
9:51 am
Got to love a UGA fan use the word “relevant”. That has not been a word associated with UGA for 30 years.
Lets just remember a few things.
#34 gets Trans AM, family members full scholarships, boat loads of Money
Jan Kemp- academics – are you here to play football or to go to school?
Harrick- how many players are allowed to play at a time during a basketball game?
Fulmer Cup- Winner Winner UGA Chicken Dinner
Carver Columbus- You are not allowed to recruit on my campus
AJ- love those jerseys, but did not come clean with the NCAA- Please sit 4 games
Colorado- losing to a team who actually fired their coach for a 6-6 record
UCF- that powerful offense of CMR/MB scores 6 points
Loses to every ranked team in the final polls they played with the exeption of Auburn.
We can do this all day.
Perspective
January 21st, 2012
9:54 am
Bama Diehard: Like you, I was surprised to hear what I relayed to you. The source of my information is 100% credible, and it did not come from this state. This year, Alabama has indeed offered a least one full academic scholarship to the pregnant girlfriend of one of your commits from New Orleans. Alabama does buy “Go Phones” by the case, so contact with recruits can not be traced. These are just two examples. Notice, I did not condemn these practices. I just reported them, and they are true. That is not hating, that is call an intellectual discussion. You could not not respond to the facts, so you got personal, which is the first sign of loss in a mental discussion.
Dawg Bone
January 21st, 2012
9:54 am
Simply put, when coaches over sign they are dishonest with the kids and their parents. They lie for advantage. Because the NCAA doesn’.t end this practice they are as guilty as the coaches. If parents allow their children to verbally commit to a liar they had better explain the possibility of a greyshirt. Frankly, only the ego of a player and/or his parents would allow a verbal “commitment” to a coach that is a liar by practice. Also Alabama and the others are great schools that should have the moral courage to end this practice….it may be legal but it is lying.
econdoctor
January 21st, 2012
9:54 am
I don’t know how long of an early signing period you had in mind, but how about getting a player to sign when he commits. If he doesn’t want to sign, then he is not committed. Pretty simple. However, a player should be able to break his “signed” scholarship if the head coach or position coach is fired or goes to another college.
Bama4life
January 21st, 2012
9:59 am
So Bama fans are delusional???? You guys are great……
- J. Taylor should sue Saban
- Give Bama the death penalty
- Ban Alabama from the state
Again don’t let the facts get in the way of trashing Bama. J. Taylor has a valid offer and is still committed. No one can point to one rule violation, but sure lets sue Saban, etc.
Look UGA fans I know it must be tough. You are the state school in probably the #1 or #2 recruiting hotbeds in the country. Yet despite having this OVERWHELMING advantage, both Bama and Florida have won 3 NC’s since 1980, LSU has two, and even the Vols and the Barn have won one. I’m sorry you guys have underachieved to the degree you have, but it’s just childish to keep whining about Saban/Miles/Meyer, rather than beating them on the field.
If you guys spent 10% of the time holding your coach accountable as you did crying about how life is unfair, you probably would have won a few championships by now. But by all means, PLEASE sign RIcht to that extension. We will keep out working him, out recruiting him, cherry picking talent from your state, and winning more championships.
Bama Diehard
January 21st, 2012
10:02 am
Perspective, okay I believe you. Why, because all that sounds so real. It’s got to be true so I will bow down to your intellectual information about “go phones” and pregnant girlfirend scholarships. Wow, shame on Bama.
Tech Fan Since 1950
January 21st, 2012
10:05 am
“Ten percent (of coaches that are over signing) are generally the ones competing for championships” says it all about the mindset of some of the top teams in the SEC. Thus the hype. I’ll congratulate the Georgia Bulldogs for not being in this category. Georgia has made a lot of progress in recent years in academics and with the caliber of its student-athletes. I wish there was a national championship for college teams that play by the rules on and off the field.
Bama Diehard
January 21st, 2012
10:06 am
Bama4life, keep in mind we have to fill the nursery with alot of baby food etc. to help with the twenty seven pregnant girlfriends on scholarship, also need to get plenty of phone chargers.
1eyedJack
January 21st, 2012
10:08 am
All Champions are a bit pompous. I would be too.
Irrelevant
January 21st, 2012
10:13 am
Georgia — 1 title in 1980
Bama — 2 titles in the last 3 years, with more to come
Ga: not relevant
Jockich Ahn Smelley, II
January 21st, 2012
10:15 am
Nick Saban (aka Slick Satan) and Harvey Updyke…..Mama says I’d be proud of the people associated with the U. of Alabama!!! Rollllll Taaaaad!!
Jockich Ahn Smelley, II
January 21st, 2012
10:19 am
Webster’s Dictionary definition…..”Exploitation”…..Hey Mama, it says to refer to Nick Saban……Hey Mama, is this your Nuva Ring on the sofa??
Dean
January 21st, 2012
10:28 am
How appropriate the guy who responded to me was knuttsack. Bama you guys are incredulous!
Bobo
January 21st, 2012
10:32 am
You guys need to get over this and move on. Tired of reading about how everybody else cheated and thats why uga with all their talent and patsy schedule couldnt begin to keep up with the big boys. My god it had to be something else other than our lack of coaching or player execution. I guess thats the uga way when things dont go their way which has been for the last 32 yrs!!!
Jockich Ahn Smelley, II
January 21st, 2012
10:32 am
The over recruiting practices of Alabama…..the best feeder system ever for the University of North Alabama……..Thank you Misssssta Saban……….Hey I was a 4 star recruit and my best homey was a 5 star coming out of High School…..Do you know who we are???? We are commitin to the University of Alabama so we can be stars at UA and move to the NFL…..HEYYY, no one ever told me that I’d be 4th String here….Hey I was a 4 STAR recruit comin out of high school….Misssta Saban told Mama that I’d be a STAR at UA….was he lyin to Mama??? HEYYYY how do I get to Florence??? UNA has an opening for me on the Team! ROLLLLLLLLLLL TAAAADDDDD!!! Did I say that right Mama????
Homepage | MrSEC.com
January 21st, 2012
10:33 am
[...] 3. Jeff Schultz: “Saban and LSU’s Les Miles are two of the biggest abusers of oversigning.” [...]
Dean
January 21st, 2012
10:35 am
While winning a mythcial Championship would be fantastic I’ll still say I’d rather not win it than win it using questionable practices. You can laugh at that all you want but winning is not everything. I know many of you can only calculate success in those terms but it’s not accurate. I think many of you would have been Roman soldiers laughing at Jesus on the cross. It’s all about perspective, what’s truly important and behaving to a standard besides what your detractors throw at you. Yes, UGA has faults but for the most part I’m proud of the way Richt runs the program. Success will come. It may not be with constant ESPN stroking and the number of titles but it will be glorious. Regardless, priorities win out and Richt has them straight.
The Factor
January 21st, 2012
10:40 am
ALL YOU DUMB–S BAMA FANS WHO THINK THE AUTTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE IS A FAN OF UGA DON’T VISIT HIS ARTICLES MUCH. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A DAWG FAN WRITING THIS ARTICLE I CAN ASSURE YOU. SUCK UP PAUL FINEBAUM, JEFF SHULTZ IS NOT.
Jockich Ahn Smelley, II
January 21st, 2012
10:42 am
Paul Finebaum……I thought they found a cure for looking like a Mongrol??!! hmmmm guess not
Brett Gooch
January 21st, 2012
10:53 am
If the scholarship is 4 years guaranteed, then the athlete should have to stay for 4 years. If players fail,quit, get injured, or leave early, each school should be able to cover those loses! Higher level football schools have a larger number of players transferring due to disappointments. They also have more juniors that turn pro!
Pittsburgh george
January 21st, 2012
10:57 am
Lying by omission is still lying. Bama was the only school that stuck with him after his injury.
Cdpridg
January 21st, 2012
10:57 am
Bam a fans…literally the dumbest fan base in all of America
The Factor
January 21st, 2012
11:05 am
@Cdpridg
Could not agree more.
Don’t know if you ever travel the state of Al on business, but their sports radio in filled with the most ignorant callers – truely mind boggling and sadly laughable. Be glad you don’t live there.
Jefferson Davis Hogg
January 21st, 2012
11:19 am
@ The Factor…I presume you’ve listened to Finebaum too….the callers are a complete joke which does nothing to better the reputation of Bammers fan base or the state itself….He had callers yesterday actually defending the actions of the tea bagger…….The Jerry Springer of talk radio…always worth a few laughs though
Jefferson Davis Hogg
January 21st, 2012
11:27 am
@ The Factor….I presume you’ve listened to the Jerry Springer of talk radio too…..The Finebaum show paints an ugly picture of the Bammer fans as a whole, the University, and the state itself….I’ve never heard such ignorance in my life as what the callers spew out……They’re even defending Updyke and the teabagger ……But hey, its always good for a few laughs
Pittsburgh george
January 21st, 2012
11:34 am
Is Georgia afraid of losing recruits to Bama?
Larnus
January 21st, 2012
11:37 am
Het Jeff-I see the accusation, but where is the proof? Do you have statistical data to back up your claim? If so, please publish said data to substantiate your claim. I would like to see it. If you cannot provide information, I would suggest you retract the story.
Knutt Sack
January 21st, 2012
11:48 am
Dean
January 21st, 2012
10:28 am
How appropriate the guy who responded to me was knuttsack. Bama you guys are incredulous!
And yet you have no argument.
Knutt Sack
January 21st, 2012
11:49 am
Cdpridg
January 21st, 2012
10:57 am
Bam a fans…literally the dumbest fan base in all of America
Would you open your backdoor up and yell at your aunt and tell her to get out of the bathroom.
thomas
January 21st, 2012
11:50 am
by the same token if they sign shouldn’t beable to leave early how many players do Ala/LSU lose every year due to kids leaving for the NFL
Beast from the East
January 21st, 2012
11:51 am
Perspective,
I’m no Bammer, but your post at 9:54am needs to be backed up with FACTS. I can’t stand people that toss around allegations with nothing to support it. Show us some proof. What’s the recruit’s name and who’s his girlfriend? Show us an invoice for the endless supply of phones. My money says you made all that crap up. Prove me wrong.
Mid Town Joe
January 21st, 2012
11:51 am
Early signing is bad for football. Most kids are multi-sport players in high school. Chances of injury are probable, and I wouldn’t want to early sign some kid who tears up a knee in a basketball game.
Knutt Sack
January 21st, 2012
11:51 am
A Georgia fan calling an Alabama fan a redneck! WOW!…They Both urinate in the water and send it on to Florida for them to drink.
Trojan
January 21st, 2012
11:56 am
I have a simple solution. Enforce the current rules. Saban and Miles simply oversign and say “so what”. Put a limit and then penalize the heck out of them.
Bama4life
January 21st, 2012
12:01 pm
Dean almost forgot..thanks for mentioning the ‘holier than thou’ bs that Richt is a good honest man who does it the ‘right way’
What a load of crap…Richt is guilty of countless secondary violations which of course are ignored when you get the recruit like Crowell. Sure that’s perfectly fine…great job. Except Richt doesn’t have the guts to stand up to Crowell or anyone else.
Monte
January 21st, 2012
12:19 pm
Nice thoughts but you are missing the problem in my opinion. Limiting the number of scholarships is the real problem. Set a max number of players allowed on a team, then allow every player in every sport to receive a scholarship. In baseball they are allowed 11.7 (HAHA) which means kids routinely get 1/2 of a scholarship or less since the traveling team size is 25. In basketball they allow 13 which is enough for the entire team, in football it is 85. 85 is low, as teams can explode upwards of 200 athletes. Less regulation creates competition and a more fair marketplace for all.
Toothless in Tuscaloosa (4 life of course)
January 21st, 2012
12:20 pm
It is okay to tell a “white lie” to a black kid. Saban does it all the time. Especially, when a bigger, stronger, faster player becomes available.
Richard Ray
January 21st, 2012
12:23 pm
I know it is a way to flame a fan base, but truthfully I could not disagree with you more. I know your job is to get people to read your article so you talk about Alabama and LSU, lets be honest EVERY TEAM… let me repeat myself EVERY TEAM, way over offers players, by the hundreds. I bet Alabama offered 200 kids this year, but so did SMU, Baylor and every other school in America. Alabama and LSU are just schools that alot of the kids say yes to. I do have a question for you, please be honest, do you read and believe the things you write? Do you put any real thought into them, do you care. You complain about these coaches not caring and then you say if the kid does not make the grade, forget about him. Maybe I am wrong, but this ties into what is wrong with America, everyone is getting so damn sensitive, Kids can change there mind why not the school? You act like this is the end for that young man, I dont know this kid in question, and I have no “dog in this hunt” but if he was good enough to get a offer at Alabama, he will have other schools lined up, and have plenty of time to decide. If I am not mistaken (and I know i’m not) Feb. 1 is the NSD or the beginning of the national signing period, you do not have to make a decision that day. Well Hell maybe I am wrong, maybe I am an grumpy old man, that really hates to see the direction that our country and youth (to include the Author of this article) are going in. Toughen up, get a backbone, The world is not fair and life is what you make it, nots what handed to you, I am sure this will not define this young man, and it appears that you are more upset then he is, i believe he told Alabama that he would wait 5 months to enroll, then changed his mind… We should write an article about him flip flopping. Well i think this is now delared a rant, so I will just shut up…
George Stein
January 21st, 2012
12:29 pm
Here’s the deal, Bama fans. If over-signing doesn’t give you an advantage, why fight changing the rule?
Perspective
January 21st, 2012
12:44 pm
Well said George Stein. Well said indeed.
For many of these 16 and 17 year old young men, it is the first time any member of their family has had the opportunity to go to college, ever. So, when a head coach comes into their home, sits down with mom, the athlete, family, et cetera, it is a very big event in their life. For the first time in the history of the family, a member is about to get a chance to go to a university, for free. It is a huge emotional high.
For an assistant coach to call the athlete, eleven months later, and say, “We don’t have a scholarship for you…”, it hurts the family in a big way. At least for the moment, it crushes their dreams.
If coaches kept their word, i.e., did not lie to recruits, the real emotions of these families could be spared.
Lying is WRONG.
Wouldn’t it be great, if all high school coaches stood up for their players, and stopped allowing all coaches that have a reputation for lying, from meeting with players on high school campus? Coaches without integrity should not be allowed on campus, anywhere.
Somebody needs to stand up for these players that are getting lied to, by having “committed” scholarship offers reneged upon.
Dean Thomas
January 21st, 2012
12:50 pm
Four year scholarships went out in the ’70s. Didn’t you get the memo?
The Factor
January 21st, 2012
12:57 pm
@George Stein,
Well said. …
Dean Thomas
January 21st, 2012
12:58 pm
George, nice to see you finally admit that Bama is following the rules.
The Factor
January 21st, 2012
1:04 pm
@Richard Ray,
I’m afraid you are wrong, my friend. Every school does not do this. Is it cheating? I guess the jury is out how lines are being pushed and crossed. But if you are so concerned about the youth and the direction of the country, isn’t a big part of your concern – ethics – which this is all about?