The ACC and Big Ten are on board with giving athletes a 1-time transfer without sitting out, and so should the SEC
The clock is now ticking on the SEC to take some long overdue action.
Why?
On Monday, the ACC released a statement in support of the Big Ten’s proposal to allow undrgraduate student-athletes a 1-time transfer opportunity without sitting out a year:
“During the league’s annual winter meetings (February 12-14), the ACC discussed the transfer environment and unanimously concluded that as a matter of principle we support a one-time transfer opportunity for all student-athletes regardless of sport,” the conference said in a statement. “As a conference, we look forward to continuing the discussion nationally.”
Do some quick math and yep, that means 2 of the Power 5 conferences are on board with this nuanced approach to the transfer issue in college sports right now. The Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC have yet to address the issue.
Shoot, the NCAA even came out with a statement Tuesday saying this will be voted on in the spring:
Division I student-athletes in all sports could have the opportunity to compete immediately after transferring one time if a proposed change to waiver guidelines is adopted by the Division I Council this spring. https://t.co/Es7MfhHLj4
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) February 18, 2020
It’s time that the SEC addresses the issue, too. Check that. It’s time that the SEC announces its support of the Big Ten’s proposal.
The SEC communications staff did not respond to an email request Tuesday for the conference’s stance on the matter. Who knows how long it’ll take. What we do know is that regardless of what coaches claim about this creating “the wild west,” a change is needed.
And if you don’t think a change is needed, well, perhaps you missed what happened to players at places like Michigan State and Colorado.
They had their head football coach leave … in February. Under the NCAA’s current legislation, they wouldn’t automatically receive immediate eligibility for a hardship waiver. Could they? Possibly, but that’s unknown considering how unpredictable the process is (unless someone lawyers up and hires Thomas Mars). Nobody knows when or why the NCAA operates the way it does.
Why not take that out of the NCAA’s hands? Why not eliminate this drawn-out process to determine whether a player should be immediately eligible? The NCAA acknowledged the stress of the waiver process and how it’s no longer sustainable.
Obviously the remaining hurdle is the same one that’s always been standing in the way of a proposal like this — the coaches. The same coaches like Tucker, who infamously claimed that “there was no transfer portal in the real world,” don’t want to be blindsided by players leaving and playing somewhere else at the drop of a hat (what irony that is). Coaches fear it’ll decimate their depth and they’ll spend the entire year recruiting their own team.
I’d argue with the transfer portal that we’re basically already at that point. Players can enter the transfer portal at any time and see what their market is. Some coaches enforce a policy of not allowing players to return to school once they enter the transfer portal, and others do not. They still have the power to make that decision even if this proposal becomes NCAA rule.
The power structure is what got us to this point. That is, the point of recognizing that college football is vastly different than it was 10 years ago.
Sure, coaches left for other jobs and coaches were fired. But the money in play now allows athletic departments to not only have a quicker trigger — even Mississippi State can pay an 8-figure buyout and fire a 14-12 coach after 2 years — but it also allows schools like Michigan State to throw life-changing money at a coach who legitimately had no intentions of leaving his job. Coaching departures — however they happen — are often what’s at the root of a player’s wish to transfer. Not always, but often.
The NCAA can spew the rhetoric about “that’s why you sign with a program and not a coach” all they want. But the reality is if you were a triple-option quarterback who signed to play in that offense, you wouldn’t have a chance with a new coach running the Air Raid. Why should that player have a year of their athletic prime wasted on the bench because a coach left?
Giving athletes the 1-time ability to transfer without having to sit a year would not be giving them all the power. It would be creating some sort of balance as coach salaries skyrocket with the revenue distribution increase. Coaches still dictate playing time, and that’s not guaranteed to anyone. Players can threaten to transfer all they want, but coaches can respond to that by saying that they can dip into the transfer portal to get someone to take their place tomorrow.
That, hopefully, will ultimately reduce to amount of players who enter the transfer portal. While the transfer process needed revamping, the goal shouldn’t necessarily be to empower more players to transfer. Rather, it should be to empower more players who transfer. There’s a difference.
The NCAA doesn’t want to convey that it’s incentivizing the act of transferring because the organization would like to pretend that Power 5 college football players are attending their respective universities because of the education and student-athlete experience provided … when really it’s usually about doing whatever they can to get to the NFL.
But this proposal, if passed, would finally acknowledge that the sport has changed.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC are all deliberate about this considering they’ll be the third Power 5 conference to sign off on such a rule. If there’s a consensus opinion among the Power 5 conferences, one has to think that’ll carry a lot of weight with the NCAA.
I don’t know when the SEC will announce its stance on this matter. Here’s hoping the conference doesn’t decide to be a stick in the mud.
It’s about time to get with the times.
I agree, no reason to block young men and women from going where they want to go. I know it’s a headache for coaches to deal with roster fallout, but so what, shut up and do your job.
Gotta agree with you again. All people who are against this is saying is we don’t trust adults so we need to restrict the kids.
We don’t trust coaches not to try to recruit other schools players! We don’t trust our big dollar boosters not to be handing out bag money! We don’t trust agents to stay away! Who cares. This isn’t a prison system. The kids should go where they want and play rt away.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Big10 and ACC are in support of such a rule. The teams that will be affected the most are those that consistently finish in the top 10 of recruiting rankings. You will see more 5* players transfer as sophomores from SEC teams, and more grad transfers coming into SEC teams to plug the holes.
So does that mean every 5* transfer will go to the B10 and ACC? Is it possible some will stay in the SEC?
I would say if there is a coaching change or something it should be a no brainier. I’m not so sure I like just a blanket rule though.
I think this is a very big deal for the players. I don’t think it’s a big deal for the coaches. They will certainly adapt. It will cost the major schools some depth. That’s an issue most lesser programs deal with every season.
Good point.
There IS a transfer portal in real life. You don’t have to do anything but leave and move on.
Most of the time these kids who start transferring around I think they know they are reaching and their window is closing. They are kinda the ones on the outside and lose the team concept and their college experience is kinda lost. Feel sad for them.
If a kid doesn’t want to be at a school he should be able to transfer. Coaches leaving, reduced playing time, other situations with their personal lives…. it doesn’t matter. They should be able to leave if they aren’t happy.
So does that mean Burrow, Hurts, and the kid from UGA were outsiders who lost their college experience? Lol. Too many people clutching their pearls on this subject.
Burreaux certainly cashed in on his college experience in BR! Babies, steaks, stadiums, – hell, he even got a giraffe named after him! Lol GEAUX!
It’s going to happen, but there are many unintended consequences attached. The conferences/NCAA better give it a lot of thought.
I guess the good news is we will have another day to look forward to. “The National Resigning Day”.
Just do it. It’s overdue
Also, a new coaching position. Assistant Coach in charge of “Tampering”.
As long as we’re talking about offseason transfers than I don’t have a problem with it. I also will go ahead and warn everyone that the schools that will benefit most from this are Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, LSU and Oklahoma. And the schools that will be hurt are the group of five schools. 3 star player goes to Western Kentucky and becomes a stud in his freshman year. Then decides to upgrade by going to LSU for his sophmore year. To me this is the bigger issue than the disgruntled player who can’t crack the starting lineup at a power 5 school.
Why is it an issue?
Because lower-tier teams will start to complain that they’re getting turned into de facto farm teams for the blue bloods, I guess.
It will still be a lot more prevalent the other way. Everyone should be able to adapt.
“Son, we appreciate all you have done for us here at UGA, showed up everyday, great attitude, special teams contributor, but…we have a 5* who wants to transfer in and, as you know, we can only have 85 players. So, well, good luck!”
That kind of already happens. The term “Processed” has existed for quite some time.
Coaches don’t have a 1 year waiting period, why should players? They have a very finite period of time allotted to them – let them transfer without penalty.
Agree.
1. Something’s bugging me about the grammar of this article’s title.
2. I think we should only start with stating that coaching departures will allow a player to qualify for a one-time waiver. The idea of everyone getting a freebie with no criteria other than good academic standing/clean record is still a little extreme for me.
Change “are on board with” to “support.” It’s less wordy ad it fixes the grammar issue.
Durn typo.
If coaches want to block this change, then they should forfeit all salary they were ever paid by a university every time they jump to a new job before their contracts end. It’s ridiculous for coaches to demand that players can’t move on when the coaches can hop whenever they want.
Free agnecy killed the NFL for me. Now they are about to do the same thing in college. Signing day will mean nothing if they do this. Some teams will get most of their players from the portal now. Why wouldn’t you? They are older, bigger, stronger and less of an unknown quantity when they have been in a college system. Why earn your starting spot when you can transfer to someone else’s.
I don’t see an issue with it being a one time freebie. There are some players who might still choose to sit. Let’s take a Jacob Eason. He left Georgia to go to UW, and he wasn’t going to uproot the other Jake (Browning). So sitting out a year wouldn’t be a problem there. (I know there’s a chance the other jake could have gotten hurt but you don’t hope or wish for that) And if it had gone bad (like he didn’t win the job or the coach left) he would still have a free transfer on his hands.
To be honest, I also don’t think being a “farm” team for P5 schools is bad. Could you imagine being a 5 star wanting to go to a school, but there are 4-5 non-draft eligible underclassmen ahead of you? Now it is a viable option to forsake that blue blood, dominate at the ‘lesser’ school, which in turn makes their team better. Then transfer out to where you wanted to go anyway?
I think it helps smaller school more than it hurts. I’m darn sure they’d take 1-2 years of a gamechanger than 0.
As far as it hurting big schools….how? Outside of QB, there’s not a tonne of positions where if you lose the battle you won’t see the field so much so much you want to transfer. If you’re three years in, meaning have played three (could be three + a RS) and you haven’t cracked the starting lineup? Good chance you aren’t ever at a big program. A lot of those who were eyeing the NFL in that predicament were going to probably transfer anyways regardless.
I admit I could be wrong, but I just don’t see an issue for anyone here. Just feels like players have less stress about their decisions on where to attend for the next 4-5 years.
I transferred out of USF and never played football again because that whole situation stressed me out so much I rather just not had worry about football anymore. (I never planned to play in the NFL, even if I was good enough…..I would have probably play for a couple years for the money then drop it..but that’s another story)
God didn’t realized I rambled this long, forgive me y’all lol.
You still made a good point about the small schools taking 1-2 years of a bluechipper who wants immediate playing time before he moves to a bigger team.
I could probably get behind this if it is being presented as a complete end to review boards and waivers of all kind.
Which is to say, everybody can transfer once with no penalty for any reason but that is their sole penalty free transfer. That means if you transfer because your coach left, you don’t get to come back a couple years later because of your sick relative, your second coach leaving, etc.
Who cares how many times a kid transfers? If he’s not 100% mentally into playing for a tm you like he’s not going to be any good anyways!
There’s no reason that unpaid amateur students shouldn’t be able to switch schools like every other enrolled student can.
Other “unpaid” students are not on FULL scholarships!
There are plenty other kids on full scholarships besides FB. And they can leave without penalty. Of course the irony is the revenue generated by football players paid for their scholastic. Funny isn’t it?
Scholarships!
hey, don’t forget you owe me $10. lost the bet
SEC office is waiting to see what daddy Saban thinks of the change.
He’s on record that he doesn’t like the idea. So we’ll see if your theory holds water….
I have no issue with players getting a one-time freebie, but I do think there should be some oversight on it. First, I think that the free transfer should only be allowed in the off-season. If a player realizes during Fall camp or early in the season that he isn’t going to make the first team, then then current rules for transferring should apply. But, if the player wants to transfer before/after the season then the portal is open.
Non-Student Athletes submit an acceptance letter to the school of their choice. They are free to transfer whenever they wish. Athletes sign a Letter of Intent to play athletics for the school of their choice. Nowhere does it states, I will play and graduate from this school.
If the NCAA wants to prohibit these players from transferring, then pay them. Have them then sign a minimum 3yr contract. Oh but that would open Pandoras Box. They can’t have it both ways. Every player should transfer to whatever school they wish..
My only problem with Transferring is it impacts recruiting. A 4* Sophomore Xfer vs a 5* Incoming Freshman.. Who gets the last Scholarship?
Great point.
It needs to happen. If you’re upset that your depth will be effected, welcome to the reality of every non-blue-blood program in the nation. When Mizzou loses a starter to injury, we typically don’t have a guy on the bench who can fill in (although Nick Bolton was a fine exception). I like it, need some movement to create parity. If you have a five star dude on your bench and you’re still recruiting elite players at his position, don’t expect him to just hang out.
Bolton didn’t come off the bench, he was already starting. The idea kids should be given yet another “out” for moving is a bit absurd, part of the process of selecting a school should be the idea if there is a Drew Lock, Nick Chubb, Julio Jones etc at your position with some eligibility left, you won’t likely see the field much. This is why you choose a program that might use you immediately. As for coaches leaving yet another reason successful coaches have an advantage.
They’re not professional athletes playing on million dollar contracts. They’re college students who play football. They shouldn’t be forced to stay at a school any more than a non-athlete attending college. An elite athlete should be able to maximize his playing time, and if a coach didn’t start him, then catch the next train. Jacob Eason is a top 5 QB in this year’s draft after transferring to Washington. If he had stayed at Georgia he’d be selling used cars next year. To hell with curmudgeons like you, I support the athletes.
Right on Tiger TD!
Excellent Point!
A lot of y’all keep saying they aren’t allowed to transfer…. they are. What they aren’t allowed is to immediately play. Personally agree with the sit rule, as adults we have to face consequences of decisions, good or bad. This is and should be a learning experience for these young men. Sorry things didn’t go the way you want, but here is a do-over. What is being taught here? The fact that these kids go to these schools to use as a platform to get to NFL. these are institutions of higher learning first. I think the problem is waivers, period. Inconsistent rulings have people jaded and the blanket rule should be to sit for a year.
Why in the hell should a 19, or 20 year old student have to “suffer consequences” for choosing to go to a different school? Maybe their recruiter misled them, maybe they got injured and lost their job (Eason), maybe they have family issues, maybe they just flat out don’t like the coach/team/city/etc, or maybe they changed their major and another school has a better program. Young men should be allowed to change their minds when their entire future is dependent on how they maximize their opportunities during those 4 short years of life.
kids those age make harder decisions, all this does is give the world more Antonio browns
It all looks and feels good. But I don’t think our student athletes should be allowed to transfer within the same conference. There are plenty of other schools Son to show off your ball skills at now that we got you on our meal plan and conditioning program. We just don’t need you to get even with Us with that chip on your shoulder because Coach didn’t let you play. And now Coach XYZ is ready to beef up his defense and your a perfect fit.