The NCAA is expected to vote on keeping satellite camps or not sometime this month, and the SEC will let its self-imposed ban expire in May if the NCAA chooses to side against the conference.
Georgia coach Kirby Smart has a plan set in place either way.
“Ultimately, every SEC school wants these kids on their campus,” Smart said, per The Telegraph. “I don’t want to have to go to them. But if it gives somebody a competitive advantage to go to them then we may want to do the same thing. We’ve looked into it as a staff. We have a plan ready to kick in if it happens. We’ll be prepared for it.”
The SEC has already proposed to end “guest coaching,” which means college coaches could no longer attend other institutional camps to evaluate recruiting prospects. That would result in coaches like Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh being unable to travel down to Florida to participate in practice during spring break, much like he did last month, which created quite the stir.
According to the report, Smart said on Tuesday that he’d prefer to bring prospects to campus but is open to setting up shop elsewhere if the NCAA decides to tie its hands and make no changes for the near future.
“We’ve got to be prepared. That’s there and it’s waiting in the brink, and it’s like who’s going to be first?” Smart said. “Who’s going to go where? Everybody’s lobbying. But we gotta be careful because we’re not going out right now and saying where we’re going. We got to wait to see if it happens. If it happens, we’ll be ready for it and we’ll have some decisions to make.”
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
