“The sentiment was very clear. There wasn’t a lot of debate at the end.”

Wow, color me shocked.  Seriously.

The SEC has adopted immdiately a proposal by Georgia to ban transfers of players who have been dismissed by their former school for “serious misconduct.”

Such misconduct is outlined as sexual assault, domestic violence or other forms of sexual violence. It does not specify felonies or misdemeanors.

But the “trigger point” for the rule being applicable is if the player had “been subject to official university or athletics department disciplinary action at any time” during his time at the school.

I didn’t think they had it in them.

The trigger point is what gets around the “innocent until proven guilty” roadblock.  Again, you wonder what happens in the case of a player who bails on a school before he can be disciplined.  But I guess they’ll deal with that scenario when it happens.

Did I mention I’m shocked?  I really am.

“I don’t want there to be any fuss over anything.”

Maybe the quarterback situation isn’t as under control as Richt has let on.

**************************************************************************

UPDATE:  Per Fletcher Page, it’s all about the backups.

Georgia’s recent involvement with transfer quarterbacks is about the situation.

It’s not about the starter.

Here’s the thing — players transfer when they don’t get to start or play enough.

That’s why these names, such as Everett Golson earlier this month and now Greyson Lambert, keep popping up in your Twitter feed.

While Georgia’s coaches keep pushing the idea of an ongoing quarterback competition, they’re worried Fauta Bauta or Jacob Park will be the next name on the open market.

The staff, I’m told by people I trust, is petrified of that happening.

It’s what makes the game so great.

You know, sometimes you sit back and reflect on the changes, the upheaval and the disruption that’s roiled college football the past few years and it’s troubling.  Then you see something like this and realize it was all worth it.

SEC will distribute $31.07M per school in revenue, sources told @ESPN. League made record $455M past year

— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) May 29, 2015

Oh, wait.  You thought I was talking about the fans?  Suckers.

Nice team you got there, Georgia.

Lindy’s is out with its SEC preseason rag.  The anonymous coach comments used to be one of my favorite things to read when Tuberville was still in the SEC, because often he barely made the effort to disguise his anonymity (or his contempt towards some, for that matter).

Now it’s much more bland, which is a shame.  But judging from this, somebody’s evidently not a big Georgia fan.

On the defense

“Jeremy Pruitt said last year he had the worst collection of defensive backs he ever had to coach. He said he inherited defensive backs that weren’t SEC-caliber. But he’s taken the bull by the horns on defense and he will lean on some young guys in the secondary. I think those two guys at outside linebacker (Leonard Floyd, Jordan Jenkins) are talented, but not superstars. I think they are a product of the recruiting machine and hype.”

On the offense

“They lose one of the best running backs in the country, but they’ve got Nick Chubb. When’s the last time you saw Georgia without a great running back? … Georgia and Alabama have new quarterbacks, but the difference is, Alabama’s new quarterback was coached by the same coach last year. Georgia has a new offensive coordinator. Advantage Alabama.”

That last part sounds cocky enough to resemble something Junior would say in his prime.  But I doubt even he would stoop to slamming a player for being “a product of the recruiting machine and hype.”

“There’s only so much security you can put out there.”

Since 2004, only five SEC schools – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State and Texas A&M – have managed to avoid being fined by the conference for fans rushing the field/court post-game.  The SEC’s response?  Jack up the fines.

The previous penalties started at $5,000 for first-time offenders and increased to $25,000 for second violations and up to $50,000 fines for third and subsequent offenses.

The new system is expected to be finalized this week at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, and there have been discussions about increasing the initial fine to $50,000.

What exactly do they expect that to fix?

“The SEC, I think, for a long time has tried to take a leadership role there,” Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley said. “If we end up increasing the fines and putting a better message out there to your fans that we need to win and be excited and we don’t need to do that because it’s not safe when people rush the field …”

Yes, I’m sure that a school paying more in fines will be the message that makes drunk college kids stop and think in the midst of celebrating, “goodness, we don’t need to do that”.

You’d do better to have security walk around the crowd handing out tickets to them for being on the field.  At least you might recoup some of that $50K.

The SEC Way

Georgia’s proposal to ban players from transferring within the conference if they have been disciplined for serious misconduct is likely to be “tabled”.

Why, you ask?  Well, for one thing, there’s that “innocent until proven guilty” crapola the presidents can’t seem to get a handle on.

During Thursday’s meeting, several SEC presidents and chancellors who are lawyers questioned what would happen if a player arrested is not convicted on such charges, Pastides said.

“That was the complexity — what about innocent until proven guilty?” Pastides said. “That’s what we have to work out with the ADs. I think that universities need to be held to a different standard than just what the law says. I do agree that those (violence) issues are much more serious than, for example, you get arrested for drinking underage or speeding or smoking pot. So I do think we need to take a different stand on these.”

But the real hold up is that the SEC office doesn’t want to touch this with a ten-foot pole.

“I’ve always been opposed to the conference having the authority or requirement to sanction a student at an institution for behavior unrelated to athletics,” Slive said. “That’s something I wouldn’t want, and I don’t think it’s appropriate for the conference office to be involved in that kind of assessment. That belongs on the campus. I made that abundantly clear.”

Translation:  I don’t need Roger Goodell’s headaches, thank you very much.  You don’t want these kids, presidents?  Then you keep ’em off your campuses.

The problem with that, as Dan Wolken neatly summarizes, is simple.

But the fact player discipline is now on the table for discussion suggests SEC schools no longer trust each other (or perhaps themselves) to act in the best interest of the conference when they have to decide whether a player with serious baggage is worth the trouble.

Yeah, that’s a real dilemma.  But there’s an obvious way out:  make Jimmy Williamson the next conference commissioner.

“All night games is the STANDARD.”

“I don’t care what network we’re on,” Alleva said, “as long as we’re playing at night.”

I’m sorta kicking myself for not catching one particular tidbit from CBS’ announcement of part of its 2015 SEC broadcast schedule, but it looks like Fightin’ Joe Alleva gets as much traction from telling CBS what he wants as he’s gotten with the SEC office on cross-division rivalry games.

At least nobody’s making LSU play on Thursday.  Yet, anyway.

He’s got a report, and he’s not afraid to use it.

Shorter Ray Watts:  UAB LEAVE $25 MILLION IN UNMARKED BILLS IN A PLACE I TELL YOU OR YOU’LL NEVER SEE YOUR LITTLE FOOTBALL PROGRAM AGAIN.

“Georgia has a favorable schedule for a title run.”

You know, every so often I come across an article that makes me say to myself, “hmmm… I bet if I post a link to this, it’ll stir up at least of third of my readership.”

I guess what I’m trying to say is this is one of those articles.  Enjoy.