Mallett sits; Dick starts.

Skipping past the Beavis and Butthead aspect of the story, ESPN is reporting that Casey Dick can breathe easier about his starting job this season at Arkansas, as Ryan Mallett’s petition to the NCAA to be granted immediate eligibility after transferring from Michigan has been denied.

While I think a general rule allowing a kid to be able to transfer without sitting out for a year from a college that changes head coaches is eminently fair, that’s just it – it ought to be a general rule. Sure, common sense tells us there’s no way someone with Mallett’s skill set would have wanted to play in Rich Rodriguez’ spread option offense. (For that matter, it’s unlikely that Rich Rod would have recruited the kid in the first place.) But, granting a waiver to Mallett on an individual basis would have been a recipe for chaos, not to mention that it would have been incredibly unfair to the thousands of kids who have been in the exact same shoes as Mallett and didn’t ask for or get a waiver.

Maybe this incident will get the powers that be in college football to reconsider the rule. Get on the stick, NCAA, and do something reasonable for your student athletes.

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