June 17, 2015 · 7:36 AM

‘Let’s look at the early signing date in the context of the total environment.’

As we saw yesterday, if the Collegiate Commissioners Association passes the early signing proposal for college football this week, folks like Dennis Dodd will take that as a smack in the face of the SEC.  But what if it doesn’t pass?  Does that make Greg Sankey the most powerful man in college football?

Or would it be an indication of another powerful man’s larger agenda?

Recently, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany suggested that the debate this week over early signing could morph into a larger discussion on recruiting issues.

“The issue of early signing has some momentum,” Delany said at the Big Ten meetings last month, “but I think there also may be some momentum to fold that into a broad discussion on the recruitment issues of camps, issues of oversigning, issues of grayshirting, issues of early enrollment, issues of 7-on-7 and teams traipsing around from campus to campus in the summertime.

“I think maybe a more global view of what’s going on in football off the field may drive people to say, ‘Let’s look at the early signing date in the context of the total environment.'”

Early signing might pass, Delany said. It might fail. It might face a delay, he said, “until we get a good overall view of the recruitment and access and the championship environment.”

As much as you know the SEC coaches would love to see something done on a universal basis to rein in satellite camps, everyone else in college football would love even more for a rule with real teeth to be adopted putting an end to certain forms of roster management aggressively pursued by some of those very same SEC coaches.

If the conferences decide it’s best to engage in some real horse trading on recruiting, expect Nick Saban, among others, to have a conniption fit in response.  SEC Media Days could be more fun than I thought.

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UPDATE:  And there you go.

That didn’t take long.  And now we wait to find out what’s behind the postponement.

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6 Comments

Filed under College Football, Recruiting

6 responses to “‘Let’s look at the early signing date in the context of the total environment.’”

  1. Cojones
    June 17, 2015 at 8:58 AM

    Had no idea that roster management was restricted to the SEC. Could have sworn I read something bout OSU and a kid in Fl recently. And won’t our satellite camps hurt the Big Ten more than any they have had in the South? Michigan cleaning those 3*s out of Bama just puts pressure on Nick to recruit more in adjoining states where the talent is and not ever worry about going nawth. As for the rest of us, we can play the same games as Delany can. How did that emphasis on “student” thingy go, Jim?

    Don’t quite understand why Delany’s infatuation with red herring is anything to trade about. So far, it’s still a free country for recruitment.

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  2. 69Dawg
    June 17, 2015 at 10:57 AM

    For the love of God can’t we just end the circus and have the NCAA do two things. First stop the recuitment of high school student 10th grade and under. No offerers to them no matter that the offers are verbal and not enforceable. Second, once an offer is made in writing to a player after the fall of his junior year, he can accept by sign an NLI. If he does not sign it then so be it. This would stop the roster management issues and make the kids a little less, “it’s all about me” because some coach offered the kid in 9th grade. I only know of two classes of people that would get their pants in a wad. That would be the recuriting services who would lose money and ESPN because of Hat Day. I don’t care what the coaches think, it would stop the crazy stuff that goes on now.

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    • Dog in Fla
      June 17, 2015 at 11:23 AM

      “For the love of God can’t we just end the circus”

      No because who would be gladiator

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      • Chadwick
        June 17, 2015 at 5:21 PM

        Lol. I hum that tune on occasion while coaching youth baseball. Thoughts of Buttermaker in my head. Lol. Also thoughts of watching Todd Grantham coaching the defense.

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    • AuditDawg
      June 17, 2015 at 1:16 PM

      The Senator has posted here, but Andy Staples position is the correct one. Make every verbal offer and acceptance binding on both ends. Coaches will stop giving out offers like they’re candy and kids that commit early and mean it are guaranteed a spot and don’t have to worry about a coach reneging on their verbal offer. It would level the playing field and coaches would be held accountable. Because it’s such an easy solution, there’s a snowball’s chance in hell it will ever happen.

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