Making it up as they go along

The ultimate iteration of “amateurism is what the NCAA says it is”:

Emmert: NCAA may refine NIL setup. “As we see the experience playing out in the various states. we're going to … track on what's working and what's not working and make adjustments as we need, and as the legal landscape allows, to provide greater clarity and better guardrails" https://t.co/z41DtNoiUs

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) July 3, 2021

“Guardrails” sounds like it’s the new buzzword.  What’s the over/under on the number of months before everyone knows it’s overused?

Eight weeks away

With all the recent craziness surrounding college football, sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of what we’re hanging around for.

David Hale: Clemson and Georgia is the perfect September football game. It’s an established title contender in Clemson vs. the trendy pick for 2021 in Georgia. It’s a matchup of big-armed QBs from Southern California. It’s two teams that have recruited at the highest level for years. And rather than a one-off spectacle, this is a matchup that actually has history on its side, too, with UGA and Clemson playing 64 times in the past, with the last matchup in 2014 including Deshaun Watson’s awe-inspiriting first TD throw and an absolute huge performance from Bulldogs’ superstar Todd Gurley on the ground. This is as good an opening weekend showdown as we’ve had in college football in a long time.

Amen to that.  I can’t wait.

“Five questions with Brent Hubbs of Volquest.com”

Shot.

In what way has the culture under Coach Heupel already changed?

Hubbs: “I think it’s all about family and enjoying the game. They are working hard, so it’s not recess, but there’s been a lot of non-football interaction. Home run derbies, grill-outs, dodgeball, etc. With COVID, nothing like that was even possible a year ago, but Heupel and his staff have invested a lot of time in building relationships with the current roster.”

Chaser.

How do you see this season playing out?

Hubbs: “I think the Pittsburgh game is a huge one for this team. If they can win that one, then they should be 3-0 heading to Florida. Tennessee’s first three SEC games are at Florida, at Missouri, and South Carolina. Could they go 2-1? Maybe. They have to get one of those in my opinion, because Ole Miss, Alabama, and Georgia are three of the following four weeks.

“Seven wins is not out of the question for this team if they can find quarterback play. If they can’t win at the quarterback position, it’s going to be a tough year, because to exceed expectations, they are going to have to out score some people.”

Tennessee football:  mediocrity with a smiley face.  Works for me.

And now, a friendly word from our sponsor

Georgia’s assistant athletic director for football compliance has a few things he’d like you to know about NIL.

While I don’t think there are a lot of surprises on the list of dos and don’ts, there is one of the latter that might be a little tricky to implement in the real world.

There’s a fine line between promoting the support for a college athlete’s NIL activities as part of recruiting and what can’t be done there.  How close will Smart push things and how much room will compliance give him to do so should be an interesting tug.