🏈 SEC coaches want to shut football camp loophole (Yahoo Sports)

[PhillyGirl]

SEC coaches concerned about camps

• Brett McMurphy and Edward Aschoff [ARCHIVE]
• 
• ESPN.com | May 28, 2014

DESTIN, Fla. -- This summer, Penn State coach James Franklin and his staff will be coaching at football camps deep in the heart of SEC country, and, quite frankly, the conference's coaches don't like it one bit.

And they have asked SEC commissioner Mike Slive to try to put a stop to it.

Franklin and his Penn State staff plan to coach and work with prospects at camps at Georgia State University in Atlanta and Stetson University in Deland, Florida.

Franklin, the former Vanderbilt coach, has drawn the biggest headlines for having his staff work with high school recruits fairly close to the University of Georgia and University of Florida campuses.

But other schools also are taking advantage of working camps off campus. This summer, the staffs from Oklahoma State and New Mexico are scheduled to work camps in several Texas towns -- Belton, San Antonio, Pearland, Spring, Rockwall and Dallas -- and Iowa's coaching staff is scheduled to work in Chicago at Lake Forest College.

By comparison, SEC rules prohibit coaches at SEC schools from "guest coaching" more than 50 miles from campus.

"It continues to be more of an issue," Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said.

Seven years ago, the NCAA passed Rule 13.12.1.2, limiting where football programs can run high school camps -- basically any out-of-state location that sits more than 50 miles from campus. However, a loophole allows coaching staffs to work at -- but not hold -- other camps outside the 50-mile radius.

This gives Franklin and his staff a chance to work one-on-one with prospects who normally wouldn't make the trek to Penn State or Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy the ability to work with prospects from Texas without the players having to visit Stillwater.

In February, Big Ten coaches discussed this practice to determine whether it should be allowed within the conference in the future. No decision was made, though, so the practice is well within the rules for now.

"It's that kind of thing that gets us to think about our rules," Slive said. "They [SEC coaches] like our rule; they don't like the so-called satellite camps. They see it as a loophole and asked us to see what we can do about that."

Slive said the SEC would have to approach the NCAA about closing the loophole.

Tallahassee (Florida) Godby High School offensive tackle Brendan Loftus recently told Scout.com that Penn State assistant Herb Hand invited him to the camp the Nittany Lions are attending at Stetson University in Deland.

Ole Miss' Hugh Freeze said the SEC coaches "would like all the rules to be the same."

"I wish it was a national rule," Freeze said. "I don't particularly want another school in a BCS conference coming into our state and running a camp. So we would like to see our rule be a national rule. I'd love to see it be the same."

Mississippi State's Dan Mullen believes the national rule should be the same as the SEC's rule.

"I think it's a rule that makes sense," Mullen said. "If you're going to have a football camp ... I don't know how Penn State relates to Georgia State football camp, but for us, I think our league [rule] will make sense."

Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork added the league wants to protect "our home turf" and "recruit to our home turf every time we get a chance."

"That's our backyard, so anytime those things happen, your eyes and ears perk up to say, 'What do we need to address [the issue] if that's a hindrance,'" Bjork said. "If it's a competitive disadvantage, then we need to look at it."

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Southeastern Conference football coaches want the NCAA to close a loophole that allows schools to take part in out-of-state summer camps with high school prospects.

Penn State and new coach James Franklin caused a stir down south when it was announced earlier this month that the Nittany Lions' staff would be working with prospects at Georgia State's camp in Atlanta on June 10.

NCAA rules prohibit schools from running camps out of state more than 50 miles from their campus. Penn State's presence at Georgia State's camp doesn't break the rule because the Nittany Lions are considered guests of the Panthers' staff.

The SEC has a league rule prohibiting coaches from being guest at another school's camp.

Continue reading...

 

[planomateo]

Notice who's complaining about it.

 

[BamaFan334]

Am I the only one with James Franklin fatigue? I'm sure people are tired of hearing about Alabama, but atleast they talk about us because we keep winning big games, Championships, put guys in the NFL, and recruit at a high level. In all honesty, I like his attempts at penetrating the hotbed for recruiting here in the South, but he'll never recruit high profile athletes from here to go up to Penn State and play in the cold. These guys like the warm weather, the tradition and fan support, and the SEC. He might swing a couple, but I don't think it will be with any regularity. He's high energy, hip with the kids these days, and a good coach, but he just won't be able to drag too many kids that for North. Just my two cents on it all though.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Am I the only one with James Franklin fatigue? I'm sure people are tired of hearing about Alabama, but atleast they talk about us because we keep winning big games, Championships, put guys in the NFL, and recruit at a high level. In all honesty, I like his attempts at penetrating the hotbed for recruiting here in the South, but he'll never recruit high profile athletes from here to go up to Penn State and play in the cold. These guys like the warm weather, the tradition and fan support, and the SEC. He might swing a couple, but I don't think it will be with any regularity. He's high energy, hip with the kids these days, and a good coach, but he just won't be able to drag too many kids that for North. Just my two cents on it all though.

He's getting so much media attention. And we haven't even seen a Franklin Nittany Lions team hit the field yet. Meanwhile the Vandy rape case gets slowly swept under the rug of all of these football stories ..

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Penn State can get recruits, and they put 107,000 fans or so in the seats up there, so it's not a destination that turns off as many recruits as you'd think. Franklin's recruiting of good athletes of poor character is consistent with other flash in the pan improvement projects. He will be successful up there, I think. If he can maintain it will be another question.

The point on who's complaining is spot on. Franklin is most likely to get that recruit that might have gone to a middling or lower tier SEC program, so the Mississippi schools and KY doing the complaining isn't surprising. Honestly, I don't have a problem with it. If Franklin wants to outwork them, it's their fault.

RTR,

Tim

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

SEC should consider camp rule change

- James Franklin is heading back to SEC country this summer, and that isn’t sitting well with the conference’s coaches.

Penn State’s new coach and his staff are making their way back to familiar territory -- and fertile recruiting grounds -- by working at football camps at Georgia State University in Atlanta and Stetson University in Deland, Florida.

Now, there’s a reason SEC coaches aren’t happy: They can’t do the same thing because SEC rules say conference coaches can’t guest coach more than 50 miles from their campuses. However, schools outside the SEC have every right to guest coach at what are essentially “satellite camps.”

What SEC coaches want is for commissioner Mike Slive, one of the most power men in college athletics, to help put an end to this.

“I want you to know that it’s not the right thing,” LSU coach Les Miles said.

But maybe the SEC should consider conforming. This is something the NCAA allows, and it’s a great way for bigger schools to enlarge their recruiting footprint. It almost makes too much sense, and changing the rules could be a good thing for the SEC. You're telling me the SEC wouldn't take another opportunity to expand its brand?

Give Will Muschamp or Nick Saban the opportunity to work with a slew of prospects in Atlanta. Send Mark Richt and Kevin Sumlin to Southern California to help coach recruits.

That’s not appealing?

Here’s a snippet from ESPN College Football Insider Brett McMurphy’s story on how this works:

Seven years ago, the NCAA passed Rule 13.12.1.2, limiting where football programs can run high school camps -- basically any out-of-state location that sits more than 50 miles from campus. However, a loophole allows coaching staffs to work at -- but not hold -- other camps outside the 50-mile radius.
I know the SEC doesn’t want to open the flood gates for the rest of the country to sink its teeth into the SEC’s recruiting ground, but why not push away from your own, seemingly outdated rule and take advantage yourself? Why not push for repeal and see if you can reap your own benefits?

“We all would if we could,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “We’re all going to do what you’d let us. Our point is where does it end? I don’t want to speak for everyone in the room, but from what I heard in there, most of our coaches would be in favor of at least being on an even playing field. We’d prefer to tighten up that loophole to not allow you to do camps off your campus.”

And that loophole is upsetting SEC coaches, who want to either have a nationwide rule that bans guest coaching by Power Five staffs or for the league to change its own rule and join the fun.

“It would be beneficial for everybody, if everybody could do that, or nobody should do it,” Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin said. “There shouldn’t be any loopholes or anything else like that. The intent of the rule was to keep an institution’s camp on the institution’s campus, and now that’s not the case.”

I understand where the SEC is coming from. The coaches, who have the geographical advantage of calling such a recruiting hotbed home, want to keep outsiders away from their product. They want to limit the contact between the other Power Five players as much as possible.

This is their land -- or as Ole Miss athletic director Ross Bjork puts it, their “home turf” -- and they don’t want people trespassing with camps that will introduce them to a plethora of athletes.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but there’s nothing stopping other Power Five institutions from taking this further. The Big Ten has discussed whether this should continue within the conference -- Iowa's coaches are heading to Chicago to work at Lake Forest College this summer -- but where’s the incentive to stop? Just working at these camps broadcasts your product to a large group of prospects (that you really want to impress) in a relatively foreign area.

Slive has made an effort to keep the SEC ahead of the curve, and this is another chance for the SEC to evolve for the good. With autonomy such a big issue with the Power Five, it’s going to be hard for Slive to convince other commissioners to side with the SEC on this one. This is something the SEC can get out in front on and capitalize on before more schools take advantage at the SEC’s expense.

“Whatever it is, it has to be a national rule that allows us all to operate the same,” Miles said.

ESPN's SEC Blog—Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

Penn State can get recruits, and they put 107,000 fans or so in the seats up there, so it's not a destination that turns off as many recruits as you'd think. Franklin's recruiting of good athletes of poor character is consistent with other flash in the pan improvement projects. He will be successful up there, I think. If he can maintain it will be another question.

The point on who's complaining is spot on. Franklin is most likely to get that recruit that might have gone to a middling or lower tier SEC program, so the Mississippi schools and KY doing the complaining isn't surprising. Honestly, I don't have a problem with it. If Franklin wants to outwork them, it's their fault.

RTR,

Tim

How can you call this "being outworked," Tim?

It's like one guy having a computer, another having an abacus, and both being asked to do a mathematical formula.

It's clearly an advantage—one that's not created by how hard a person is working.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Franklin's recruiting of good athletes of poor character is consistent with other flash in the pan improvement projects. He will be successful up there, I think. If he can maintain it will be another question.

Whoa, what? (I don't know much about his recruits)

I did like the kids O'Brien brought in: Hackenberg, Breneman, etc. But I guess the atmosphere was a bit different, with it being right after the Paterno thing, and folks wanting to be a part of the "restore the roar" movement right away.

 

[riz]

Am I the only one with James Franklin fatigue? I'm sure people are tired of hearing about Alabama, but atleast they talk about us because we keep winning big games, Championships, put guys in the NFL, and recruit at a high level. In all honesty, I like his attempts at penetrating the hotbed for recruiting here in the South, but he'll never recruit high profile athletes from here to go up to Penn State and play in the cold. These guys like the warm weather, the tradition and fan support, and the SEC. He might swing a couple, but I don't think it will be with any regularity. He's high energy, hip with the kids these days, and a good coach, but he just won't be able to drag too many kids that for North. Just my two cents on it all though.

No, you're not. I think the dude is a dirtbag. Plain and simple.

 

[TerryP]

Whoa, what? (I don't know much about his recruits)

I did like the kids O'Brien brought in: Hackenberg, Breneman, etc. But I guess the atmosphere was a bit different, with it being right after the Paterno thing, and folks wanting to be a part of the "restore the roar" movement right away.

I believe Tim is talking about the four, possibly five, guys linked to a rape charge and suspicisions Franklin had intervened in the investigation. It's a pretty sordid mess.

Google New York Times and Vanderbilt. There's an article, bit of a long read at that, about what was going on there...seems like it was published in September of 2013.

 

[PhillyGirl]

I believe Tim is talking about the four, possibly five, guys linked to a rape charge and suspicisions Franklin had intervened in the investigation. It's a pretty sordid mess.

Google New York Times and Vanderbilt. There's an article, bit of a long read at that, about what was going on there...seems like it was published in September of 2013.

I am familiar with the allegation that he contacted the rape victim (came out in April I think), but I honestly had no idea that the guys linked to the rape charge followed him to Happy Valley (I don't follow PSU too much these days) .. Interesting that all of the press he gets is good and exciting, despite this information.

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

​

The SEC football coaches, proud purveyors of oversigning and other honorable recruiting practices, have banded together in the name of integrity. Take a bow, (good ol') boys. You deserve it. Apparently the SEC coaches aren't too pleased with a plan hatched by one of their former colleagues, James Franklin. The new Penn State coach, formerly at Vanderbilt, and his assistants next month will guest coach at summer camps in the heart of SEC country at both Georgia State and Stetson.

ESPN's SEC Blog—Continue reading...

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

Satellite camps have become more of an issue in college football recently, with Penn State and Notre Dame being the latest programs to exploit an NCAA rulebook loophole and take advantage of the SEC.

Continue reading...

 

[TerryP]

​

The SEC football coaches, proud purveyors of oversigning and other honorable recruiting practices, have banded together in the name of integrity. Take a bow, (good ol') boys. You deserve it. Apparently the SEC coaches aren't too pleased with a plan hatched by one of their former colleagues, James Franklin. The new Penn State coach, formerly at Vanderbilt, and his assistants next month will guest coach at summer camps in the heart of SEC country at both Georgia State and Stetson.

ESPN's SEC Blog—Continue reading...

Understand, this is a sports writer quoting Björk: —need I say more?

 

[riz]

Understand, this is a sports writer quoting Björk: —need I say more?

Now if we're quoting Sugarcubes...

 

[TerryP]

Now if we're quoting Sugarcubes...

Sad thing is I get the reference

 

[BAMANEWSBOT]

"I don't want to speak for everybody in the room, but from what I heard in there is most of our coaches would be in favor of at least being on an even playing field," Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said.

Continue reading...