Tennessee's Cade Mays is the victim of the NCAA's latest blunder, which is absolutely worth getting upset about
There are times when all I want to say to Tennessee fans is “heeeeeeeel.”
It usually relates to something that I feel like is being taken to an extreme. I won’t get into the merits of starting a Twitter movement not to hire a coach, but even Tennessee fans know what I mean. They’re a passionate bunch, and for those of us neutral-party observers on the internet, sometimes it’s a bit much.
But when I heard that Cade Mays was denied immediate eligibility, all I wanted to do was let Tennessee fans off the leash so that they could rightfully pounce on the NCAA.
Of course, they didn’t need me to tell them that. Anyone with half a brain could have predicted that #FreeCadeMays would have been trending by night’s end.
Well, perhaps with the exception of the NCAA. That’s the organization that waited until Aug. 17 to rule on Mays’ transfer request, announcing its decision just before the complete 2020 SEC schedule was released. Imagine that. I’m sure that was totally random. Right.
You know what seems totally random? The NCAA’s eligibility waiver process. Mays’ former lawyer Thomas Mars, who helped get immediate eligibility for the likes of Justin Fields and Shea Patterson, agreed with the randomness of how and when the NCAA determines who’s worthy of immediate eligibility:
Tom Mars, former attorney for Cade Mays:
“I’m sadly disappointed to say the least. But at this point, I don’t think there’s anything the NCAA could do about a waiver request that would shock me. I’m starting to think they must use a dartboard to make these decisions.”
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) August 18, 2020
Why would Mars say that for someone he no longer represents? Like the rest of us, he’s seen the NCAA’s horrendous offseason. For what it’s worth, we can point out just hypocritical it’s been without necessarily touching on its lack of action regarding adjustments related to COVID-19.
Remember earlier this offseason when it appeared that the NCAA was about to make a historic change and allow for a 1-time transfer exemption so that undergraduates would no longer have to wait a year to play? In late April, the NCAA’s Board of Directors recommended against that rule in an effort to prevent Power 5 teams from losing star players in the event that some teams played during the pandemic while others didn’t.
(For those of you who don’t know, football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and hockey are the only sports who have transfers sit out a year while 20-plus other non-revenue sports allow transfers to play immediately. Keep that in mind.)
Mays, of course, announced in January his intentions to transfer from Georgia to Tennessee. His move had nothing to do with the pandemic.
The problem was that after the decision to punt on the 1-time transfer exemption rule, the NCAA granted immediate eligibility to the likes of J.T. Daniels, Taulia Tagovailoa and Phil Jurkovec. Speaking of Daniels, he was ruled immediate in late May, which was just 8 weeks after he transferred from USC to Georgia.
Why? Tennessee reportedly didn’t file the waiver for Mays until early July because it believed the 1-time transfer exemption rule would pass. Why? The waiver process is extensive by design, and it’s not as simple as filling out a medical history at the doctor’s office.
An intra-conference waiver apparently held that process up. That could explain why the NCAA still somehow hasn’t made a ruling for Joey Gatewood, who transferred from Auburn to Kentucky in December. Daniels, Tagovailoa and Jurkovec transferred from other conferences.
There was also the bizarre circumstances surrounding a lawsuit that the Mays family filed against Georgia as a result of Mays’ dad, Kevin, having his finger partially amputated after it was pinched in a folding chair during a Georgia recruiting visit in December 2017.
Could that have played a part in the decision to deny Mays immediate eligibility? Who knows. Mars said in January that it wouldn’t play a part in that. But if it did, goodness, that’s weak.
Can someone explain what sort of hardship Tagovailoa went through? He sat on the bench behind the best quarterback in Alabama history as a true freshman and then left for another Power 5 school instead of competing for an open starting job.
Daniels got hurt and lost his starting job … like plenty of other college athletes have. Mays, a Knoxville native, wanted to go to the hometown school that he was once committed to and play with his younger brother, Cooper, who enrolled early at Tennessee. Why does that make him less worthy of playing immediately than Tagovailoa or Daniels? The answer of “well those guys had essentially already sat out a year and Mays didn’t” is also weak. So Mays gets punished because he was good enough to play consistently as an underclassman? Weak, weak, weak.
The NCAA created a system in which it forced players to get creative in order to get immediate eligibility. The same organization admitted in its own release on waiver expansion that the process had become “unsustainable” and that it was “strained.” Of course, it was news to the NCAA that Power 5 athletes in big-revenue sports would seek creative solutions so that they wouldn’t have to waste a year of their athletic primes. Shocker.
That’s what this comes down to. Tagovailoa, Daniels, Gatewood, Mays and everyone else who transfers should all be allowed immediate eligibility. There shouldn’t be waivers denied like Brenton Cox or Luke Ford, and there shouldn’t even be granted waivers handled like Aubrey Solomon’s. Tennessee fans remember all too well when they didn’t find out about Solomon’s eligibility until 4 days before the Vols’ 2019 opener. What are the odds that the NCAA waits until 4 days before the season to rule on the appeal filed to get Mays immediate eligibility?
After all, the “unsustainable” process is “strained.” To think that it’ll yield a timely, logical result is wishful thinking at this point.
I’ll disagree with Mars on one thing. A transfer dartboard implies that the NCAA has some sort of aim. There’s precision to darts, or at least that’s the intent. The more accurate comp would be a wheel that sits in the NCAA offices. When the NCAA needs a break from the rest of what’s on its overloaded plate, it spins the wheel for fun to rule on transfer waivers.
Meanwhile, a kid waited months and months to find out whether he’d have to waste a year of his athletic prime because the NCAA said so. This is a twisted game that the NCAA continues to play. No transparency. No effort to “do right by the student-athlete” or whatever the NCAA tries to claim it does.
Congrats, NCAA. You earned the right to have a bunch of barking dogs outside your home for the foreseeable future.
If history is an indication, they won’t stop howling until you do right by them.
I’m sorry for Cade, and for Tennessee fans on this. Once again, and as a Mizzou fan I know something about this, the NCAA shows it’s incompetence and inconsistency.
The days of the NCAA are numbered, but they are too stupid to recognize that…..and they continue to do things that will only speed up their remaining days.
Agree comply. The ncaa takes every opportunity to embarrass itself. There has to be a change.
The only thing I can see is that, when Mays first transferred, the prevailing narrative was that he wanted to play with his brother, who was going to be at Tennessee. I guess NCAA could have decided the move wasn’t hardship-based, but it’s still way too random. The process needs to be transparent and fair.
What a dumb thing to do by the NCAA. You give Georgia Daniels, who didn’t need a QB, but you don’t give Tennessee Mays, who could use his help.
Receiving a waiver has absolutely NOTHING to do with a teams “needs.” What a ludicrous statement. NONE of the above transfers should have been allowed w/ out penalty especially within a conference where that player plays his former team that year. This is college football not NFL free agency. He chose UGA over lowly ut (TX is uppercase UT) now he should live with it and lose a year of eligibility. Period.
Typical Alabubba reply.
This isn’t right. I know a lot of UGA fans feel bitter about his father’s lawsuit, but lets not attach Cade to that. His position coach left. if it weren’t for Pittman, I think we can agree he would have gone to Tennessee in the first place. He wanted an opportunity to have a defined position and not just be a utility guy. It’s sad he isn’t going to get that opportunity this year. Going closer to home, going to play with his brother, going back to a place where his father started a legacy, all seem like good reasons to leave, regardless of what UGA fans think or feel. He should be eligible. Luke Ford should have been eligible.
Brenton Cox should have been eligible. Let these kids get one free transfer…
Cox transferred after failing a drug test, he truly didn’t deserve a waiver
He transferred because he was already moving down the depth chart before any of that happened. I don’t really care if he was in the dog house or any other reason. The situation wasn’t what he thought it would be, let him transfer. It doesn’t hurt anyone to let him play immediately.
After potentially honoring any suspension by the previous school. I will agree that transferring should not be used to avoid suspensions. But he was gonna miss a half, maybe a game.
“If it weren’t for Pittman….”
Well he made the decision to go to UGA, and now he’s paying for it.
These kids should commit to schools, not coaches.
Class of 98…. good year
Easy for you to say. Of course guys a lot of times commit to coaches, not just the school.
If a kid isn’t happy and feels he didn’t make the right choice, let him go. What good would it be to keep a disgruntled, unhappy player around your team?
He made that decision in the best interest for his professional prospects. He wanted to be trained by the best and for 2 years he was. Now he wants to go have fun for a year or two and play for the team he watched his dad play for and that his brother plays for. He’s increased his pro prospects and wants to have fun. Let him go have fun and do what he’s good at in an environment where he’s happy. Any other field of work in this country grants you that right.
All seem like reasons he should have chose Tenn if that’s what he really wanted. Not being “THE” guy is not a reason for a waiver. Position coaches come and go like hot cakes. Get over it.
Position coaches come and go so why can’t he? Does Sam Pittman have to sit out a year?
The NCAA currently seems to have no consistency concerning transfers. Seemingly after granting a lot of immediate-eligibility-transfers recently…They decide to handle Cade’s request as transfers were handled 10 years ago…sit out a year.
Although I happen to agree with the sit-out a year rulings…the NCAA proves once again that they care about only one thing…that’s the $$$$$. They become more useless by the day it seems.
not mad
Pretty stupid decision. He transferred closer to home after his position coach left.
He should say, “fine, can I return to UGA and play?”
I honestly feel bad for Cade. This decision will set his career back quite a bit. He had a great chance at being a 2021 first round pick. Now that’s out the window. Some transfers go incredibly well and some are unmitigated disasters. We need consistency from the NCAA.
Once again another student-athelete gets screwed by the NCAA.
Cade should have stayed at UGA, he would have played for a natty this season.
Mays is projected to be a 1st or 2nd rounder in the 2021 draft. He may never play a down for UT.
Cade transferred within the same division and conference a couple of months after starting the bowl game. He has no valid reason for transferring. He should absolutely sit out a season.
Finally sense.
So a kid, in the middle of a pandemic, wants to go back to his home and play ten minutes from where he grew up. Of course if it were you, or your son in this situation, I’m sure you would feel the same…
He transferred well before the pandemic became an issue. Same conference, same division, he sits, tough titties. I’m glad this happened to him and his trash father.
Actually the pandemic was already going through China and Europe and was starting to hit the US as of January.
It was the right and only decision. Inconsistent is correct. Last year, UT got a 5star DT transfer from Michigan who was allowed to play immediately. No coaching change or any reason it should have been granted. Meanwhile, E. Westbrook, start UT women’s BB player transfers out amidst losing her head coach. She is made to sit out last year. If Mays had been allowed to play immediately, the lawyers would have lined up behind Westbrook and I would not blame them.
An important factor people are missing, is transferring not only within the SEC but within the same division. So I am sure Vol fans would be just fine with Trey Smith transferring to Florida and being allowed to play immediately. If he was allowed to transfer to Alabama (he wouldn’t because he wouldn’t start lol) LSU fans would have ever right to be upset.
One thing is true across the board, there needs to be simple rules to follow and consistency.
Wow youre really dumb. Our michigan transfer didnhave to wait till last dang minute and they fought for it.Trey is better than leatherwood all day yall have no one near him
Vols fans compkained continuously last year about when the decision would come on Solomon. I should have been clear, if Mays would have tried to transfer to Alabama, LSU fans would be upset. And for the record, Leatherwood was projected to be a higher draft pick last year. Why are you comparing 2 different positions? Tackles are much more valuable in the NFL, a position Smith has proven he can not play.
mike bbd you lost any credibility you might have had with the stupid comment about Trey Smith.
I did not mean T. Smith could not start for Alabama, I was saying it would still be unfair if Mays tried to transfer to an SEC West team. And Mays would not start at Alabama. He was not a starter for much of last season.
I can see how you would mistaken my post and what I meant.
Looks like I’m in the minority. I do believe if you transfer to a divisional rival, especially if you started/played extensively the prior season, you should sit out a year. Cade does not have a compelling reason (sorry, wanting to play with your little brother isn’t compelling) for immediate eligibility. Sure the NCAA’s process is maddening, unfair, and wildly inconsistent, but it’s possible for two things to be true simultaneously: the NCCA sucks and the transfer rules need an overhaul, and Cade should not be immediately eligible. Also, people bringing up Daniels are missing key differences between the two scenarios.
The goal of the transfer system shouldn’t be to uphold competitive integrity, it should be based on validity of transfer reason. No way his reason isn’t more valid than JT Daniels.
Daniels didn’t transfer within the conference and didn’t play last season due to injury.
JT sat out the entire season, except for part of the first game, due to injury and could have made an argument that the injury severely imperiled future playing time due to being supplanted by whoever USC’s QB was last year. Cade can make neither argument.
So yall are saying because he didnt want to compete for his job daniels should be able to dip? Well….he might do that again when yall start newman so….theres that
No, that’s not what I’m saying.
Ah, so we should reward guys who lose their starting spot and are scared to compete to get it back, and screw the guys who worked to play and want to go play with their brother for their home state. sounds right.
To be fair, playing for Clay Helton can be construed as a hardship.
Again not what I’m saying. I’m not saying Daniel’s should be allowed to transfer because he lost his spot. All I’m saying is that the situation between Daniels and Mays is very different. Your argument for Mays can’t include reference to Daniels’ situation because it’s not congruent.
Can you explain to ,e why it matters that it was in division? UGA is running a new scheme that Cade isn’t familiar with so he won’t have any intel to pass along to UT about the offense. If anything, UGA knows what he’s good at and bad at and will attack those weak points when they see him.
I think transferring within your division should require sitting out a year to disincentivize coaches from poaching players from divisional rivals. Nothing to do with players knowing teams’ schemes or operations or anything like that. Just a check on coaches’ behaviors and also to prevent schools from amassing talent off the backs of rivals or players using schools as a springboard to get into other divisional schools.
There is no poaching, you’re not allowed to contact players on the other teams to see if they want to play for you. Only after entering the transfer portal can teams contact them.
Again, all these reasons for getting denied are for intra-conference -division competitiveness. That doesn’t seem like a good reason a player shouldn’t be allowed to transfer, and certainly not in the best interest of the student-athlete.
And that is not a valid argument. He sat because he was injured. Happens all the time. So he was injured and that severely imperiled future playing time due to being supplanted by a better player (Slovis). But getting a waiver fixes that? He isn’t guaranteed a starting position at UGA either. Just the right to compete for the starting position. Same thing he had at USC. Cade doesn’t need to make that argument since it’s totally baseless.
boxster wouldn’t the fact his family has a lawsuit going against UGA be a pretty good reason to transfer? Bogus or not the lawsuit would make me pretty uncomfortable as a player there. There is probably no doubt he also wants to play with his brother but his brother wont be seeing the field much this year if at all. I hate it for cade too. he made a mistake signing with UGA. Not because of UGA but because he grew up a UT Fan and UT was his school forever. maybe he just realized he wanted to fulfill at least part of his childhood dream, playing at UT, like his Dad. Either way UT will be fine on the O line. We definitely would be better with him but we are deeper than we have been in a very long time. I hope his appeal is approved and I am in favor of doing transfers one way or another and take all the dumb decision making away from the NCAA (Not-Competent-At-All). Either grant the one time transfer or make everyone wait a year regardless of circumstances or maybe with only a major family issue as a reason… I think this resolves itself next season with the one time transfer passing.
boxter355, well said. I agree.
I would add, I think the bogus lawsuit played into the denial.
Mays Father, like everybody his age has been sitting in metal folding chairs for his entire life. But he’s suing UGA for his own stupidity…
Otherwise, I truly believe Cade is still at Georgia, and since the brothers want to play together, one would assume that his younger brother would also now be at UGA. Maybe, maybe not but it seems like a 50/50 proposition at least…
The NCAA transfer decision process is inconstant at best and corrupt at worst and needs to get fixed. But if any player doesn’t have a clear reason to be granted the waver, I would say Cade Mays fits in that category…
Word is Cade wanted to play with Cooper. Cooper was never given a committable offer at UGA. His only opportunity to play with Cooper would be at TN.
Please explain the difference. Daniels lost his job last year due to injury. That comment would be disingenuous. He was hurt and couldn’t play. Someone had to. He then transferred without even competing for the job. He quit his team and gets immediate eligibility. I’m not saying Mays deserved a waiver but if a person who quit his team because he wasn’t good enough to start get one than you cannot say no to the other. Just because you are transferring inside your conference or division is not relevant nor is it a criteria inside the NCCA. That would be the SEC. Either everybody or nobody sits out. Simple
You know what Fields and Patterson and JT Daniels didn’t do? They didn’t transfer within a division.
If Mays wanted to be a Vol so bad, he should have signed with them out of high school.
What does that matter. The ncaa makes absolutely no distinction. If that is an issue, they should put that in writing.
The SEC does.
The sec doesn’t make the call.
Didnt franks go to arky?
I agree with the people who say that you shouldn’t get a waiver if you transfer within your own division. I can’t recall any players who have been approved under that scenario, but I could be missing a few.
Georgia = transferU?? haha
Georgia = TeamThatHasBeatAuburn12outOfLast15MeetingsU. haha
That was supposed to be a joke…
Good one
Is it really 12 of the last 15? Wow. I remember a time when that rivalry was competitive. What a shame.
A dawg can’t run with out his pack can he?
LOL. Your indignation is noted. And ignored. Want a tissue?
Ga = 12 & 3 last 15 years.
He deserved it honestly. The scheming and karma came back.
Here’s the honest deal. He was a good lineman at UGA. If he had just straight transferred and stated he wanted to finish at UT and play with his brother people would be disappointed but say “ok”.
He didn’t do that. His family schemes with Tom Mars to sue the University for something that wasn’t an issue for almost a year. Then tried to use it as false leverage. Oh well.
For something that wasn’t an issue for almost THREE YEARS. Not one.
From a legal standpoint, Cades relationship with the University of Georgia was compromised once his father filed a lawsuit against them.
You said it O’Gara. BLUNDER.
This terrible decision will most definitely be overturned.
I’m no lawyer, but it is obvious to a duck (or dawg) that there was a very tangible conflict of interest had he stayed @GA
As a Tennessee fan, of course I want him eligible to play this year, but the issue is deeper than that. There is no rhyme or reason to the NCAA transfer process. The NCAA just needs to clearly define the transfer rules, so the kids can take the transfer rules into consideration before committing to a school. The case-by-case basis just adds frustration and confusion to the process. The fact that these kids have to hire a lawyer to go through the process should tell everyone the process is broken.
Cade’s daddy doesn’t know how to properly sit in a chair and the university gets sued…really? The correct decision is to make Cade sit a year. Playing with your brother is not a valid reason. The NCAA needs to be consistent and have defined rules.
The NCAA seems awfully consistent to me – Quarterbacks are special and can always be immediately eligible without even really making a pretend case, everybody else sits out a year.
Someone help me, Alvin Kamara had to sit out a year didn’t he? Off the subject but noticed this on a 2013 Alabama game
RB Depth chart:
Eddie Lacy
TJ Yeldon
Derrick Henry
Kenyan Drake
Alvin Kamara
That’s almost very close to a reverse order in pro talent. Just Flip Henry and Drake.
mikebbd, I believe Kamara went JuCo for a season after bama and then made his way to Tennessee.
Until Joey Gatewood gets declined.
It’s time to start the conversation that’s always alluded to: Is it time to shelve the NCAA and come up with a better and fairer solution? It starts with making sure at a certain level of leadership, they are never allowed into building again.
Couldn’t feel better about this situation. I think karmically it was the right outcome for this kid. He was a starter all year long for us and all he had to do was suck it up for one more year before we would be eligible for the draft. The NCAA did the right thing, these kids think that they can be free agents after every season and I don’t want college football to turn into that. If he wants to leave then fine, but make him sit for a year. We got Daniels cause the Pac-12 wimped out on football this year and he deserves a chance to play and he left the conference. You can’t transfer to another school in the same division! That’s ridiculous. Thank you NCAA for doing the right thing.
Why can you transfer in conferences as a grad transfer? Shouldn’t the same reasons be applied?
1. Tom Mars doesn’t get paid to lose immediate transfer eligibility cases, so his reaction is best understood as marketing spin.
2. In any transfer eligibility appeal, we don’t know what we don’t know. While I can’t stand the NCAA, they are in a bit of a box with regard to transparency because of university confidentiality policies with regard to students. Since we don’t know all the facts in each case, we really don’t know whether they are being consistent.
3. Appellate courts periodically issue “per curiam affirmed” rulings (unanimous support for the trial court’s ruling) without written opinions in cases where — behind closed doors — they do not agree with the trial court, but they don’t want to open a floodgate to new cases by publishing an opinion. It would not surprise me to learn that behind closed doors, the NCAA is terrified of a flood of “to be closer to home” immediate transfer eligibility appeals during the pandemic. This may be precisely why they tabled the one-time no questions asked transfer rule change.
4. When you’re the spurned team in an intra-division player transfer, it’s easy to see this as something that should be a special exception to a one-time immediate transfer eligibility policy. But I can’t really come up with any legally defensible reason that it should be.
Has any other school acted like this when having a transfer request denied? Fulmer and Pruitt are accustomed to getting what they want. Interesting theory: if we continue to beat the drums, cry and whine as loud as we can, we will get our way. But hey, that is the new America.
Since we both are Bama fans I would like to point out the Maurice Smith transfer to Georgia. Saban wasn’t happy about it and complained. If you take the UT portion out of the equation I think you’ll see that this is just 1 more case of the NCAA being inconsistent with how they rule. That is the real issue.
Not a valid comparison. Mo Smith had graduated and therefor was eligible to transfer and have immediate eligibility. That case was cut and dry. Can’t blame the NCAA for ACTUALLY following the rule to the letter for once.
Red and Black til Death
This entire article (and the Mays transfer for that matter) is laughable. Let’s follow the timeline here:
Mays visits UGA, dad can’t sit in a folding chair and loses finger, Mays then commits to UGA (finger murderers and all), Mays make Freshman All America, UGA loses interest in Mays lil bro (barely a 3 star recruit and would never see the field) and doesn’t give him a scholly offer, Dad files lawsuit, Mays begins sophomore year as a plug and play lineman starting the vast majority of the season, Pittman leaves, Luke arrives names Mays starting left tackle for Sugar Bowl, Mays praises the Dawgs in post Bowl interview, Mays transfers…
So, it’s really hard to find the hardship here. One argument could be that they felt Cade would be treated differently since his daddy sued the school… But he was named starter in the Sugar Bowl AFTER the lawsuit was announced PLUS Cade committed to UGA AFTER his daddy lost a finger.. It’s complete BS. Mars is an attorney, he’s going to do what attorneys do.. And I will FULLY agree that the NCAA are a bunch of clowns (Fields vs Ford waiver says enough).. BUT, in this instance, they got it right. Cade, sit your coward ass down for a year and pout. It’s what you and your daddy deserve.
Red and Black til Death
Go Dawgs!
Cade mad. UGA glad. NCAA bad. UT had. Me not sad. :-)