SEC Extra Points: Nothing Good Comes from Coaches Discussing Satellite Camps
Finally, after two years of debate, we can stop talking about satellite camps.
No, really, we can.
The NCAA announced on Friday that it has put an immediate halt to satellite camps—the guest-coaching practice that became popular a couple of years ago thanks to Notre Dame's Brian Kelly and Penn State's James Franklin, and then exploded last summer thanks to Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh.
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Predictably, that has caused quite a reaction around the country.
"The incompetence of the NCAA has reared its ugly head yet again," Harbaugh told Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated.
SEC coaches—who were unified in favor of the ban—have also chimed in.
"I will never apologize for wanting to be a good father. I miss enough volleyball games. That is a priority for me," Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze said on nationally syndicated ESPN Radio show Mike & Mike (via CoachingSearch.com's Chris Vannini). "But in all reality, schools that are coming down to do camps way outside of their region, they’re really coming for one or two kids. That’s the truth."
Unsolicited advice to SEC head coaches: don't say things like this. It only makes you sound more petty.
While it's partly true—Freeze probably does want to spend time with his family, as does virtually every other parent in the country (myself included)—work is work, and the crux of the objection by SEC and ACC head coaches stems from their desire to protect their recruiting turf for their own benefit.
That's fine. Disproportionate rules that prevented SEC and ACC head coaches from guest-coaching outside of their own state borders and a 50-mile radius from campus needed to be changed.
It's called a compromise, head coaches and athletics directors, and those of you on both sides flat out refused to try to find one.
Proponents of the ban have come up with a variety of different reasons to justify the simple fact that they wanted to protect their turf, while advocates of satellite camps, like Washington State's Mike Leach, have played the sympathy card.
"OK, so we're going to elevate those over the interests of, in particular, low-income student-athletes and providing them an opportunity? It's by far one of the most absurd things ever," he told SiriusXM College Sports Nation.
Like Freeze, Leach has a point too. Lower income student-athletes won't have the same kind of exposure as they did when satellite camps were allowed, and kids of all skill levels won't have the ability to get top-tier college coaching near their homes.
That stance is disingenuous too, though.
Let's not pretend there wasn't a selfish aspect to guest-coaching too. High-profile coaches participated in these camps to raise program awareness in fertile recruiting grounds, not just to help out kids who might benefit from their presence (which is fine, and something I would have done in their shoes).
Both sides could have met in the middle and, say, developed a three-week window in June in which guest-coaching is allowed. The problem isn't that one side won and the other lost, it's that neither tried and the adults flat out refused to try to act like adults.
So stop talking about it, head coaches.
You just sound petty at this point.
Auburn On The Move?
Now that we've put the satellite camp discussion to bed, what will be the new offseason storyline around the South?
How about (gasp) realignment?
According to ESPN's Chris Low, Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn echoed the sentiments of school president Jay Gouge, and suggested that the Tigers are open to moving to the SEC East.
How seriously is Auburn about this? We'll find out the week after Memorial Day at SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, when issues like this are discussed and voted on.
Geographically, it makes sense. Auburn is located on the Georgia border and is further East than Missouri and Vanderbilt.
For it to be realistic, though, the SEC will have to alter its scheduling format.
As it stands right now, Auburn's permanent cross-division rival is Georgia, which would become an intradivision game if Auburn moves. The obvious new cross-division rival for Auburn if it moves would be the Iron Bowl, because there's no way that game disappears.
So what will happen with Alabama's cross-division rivalry with Tennessee, which is traditionally called the "Third Saturday in October?"
College football needs that rivalry too, and it would certainly throw a wrench in the works if division realignment becomes a serious possibility.
Minor Setback For A Major Comeback
The running game has been the identity of the Arkansas Razorbacks under head coach Bret Bielema.
The duo of Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams were monsters for Bielema in 2013 and 2014, and Collins capped off his junior year in 2015 with his third straight 1,000-yard season.
Kody Walker is slated to be the next in line to the Hogs' running back throne, but he will have to overcome adversity to get there.
The 6'2", 251-pound sixth-year senior suffered a broken right foot during Tuesday's practice, and will be out for a few months.
"It required surgery that went well [Wednesday] and doctors expect a full recovery," Bielema said in a statement. "It’s a pretty standard foot injury that we’ve dealt with in the past and we expect him to be full-go by June. If anyone knows how to battle adversity it’s Kody Walker."
He played in three games in 2011 and two in 2012 before suffering season-ending injuries. The NCAA granted him a medical hardship last year, reclassifying him as a junior in 2015 which allowed him a sixth year.
The Hogs are counting on Walker to make a full recovery, because there's a lot of uncertainty at running back heading into 2016.
Walker rushed for 394 yards and six touchdowns as Collins' primary backup a year ago, and he is backed up by Rawleigh Williams—who's coming off of a scary neck injury suffered in October in the quadruple overtime win over Auburn. Newcomer Devwah Whaley, who will enroll this summer, comes from a spread attack in Texas and has all of the talent to be a star. But pass blocking is even more important in Arkansas' system than others, and the former 4-star prospect will have to pick that aspect of the game up quickly to truly be a factor.
Simply put, Arkansas needs Walker—especially early.
The Hogs play at TCU in Week 2, Texas A&M in Arlington, Texas, in Week 4 and have gotten off to slow starts in each of Bielema's three seasons in Fayetteville. That needs to change if they're going to contend for the SEC West title.
Big Losses
It's no secret that Tennessee needs help in its passing game.
Quarterback Joshua Dobbs finished eighth in the conference in passer rating (127.01) and completions of 20 or more yards (30) last year. No wide receiver had more than 409 yards in 2015, and it was clear early on that head coach Butch Jones didn't trust his downfield passing attack.
The woeful passing game is a receiver problem as much of a Dobbs problem (if not more), and the Vols have become razor-thin in that department as spring practice has progressed.
According to Grant Ramey of the Knoxville News-Sentinel, sophomore Jauan Jennings and redshirt freshman Vincent Perry are both out for the rest of spring with undisclosed injuries, and redshirt junior Josh Malone missed Tuesday's practice.
That left Tennessee with just three healthy scholarship receivers leading up to Saturday's spring game.
This is last thing Jones needed.
The door is wide-open for Tennessee to not only win the SEC East for the first time since 2007, but make a legitimate run to the College Football Playoff. The roster is set at offensive line, running back, quarterback, defensive line, linebacker and even in the secondary, where Cam Sutton returns at corner.
The passing game is literally the last piece of the puzzle Jones needs to put in place, and instead, he's just searching for healthy bodies late in spring.
Not the way you want to close the session.
Opportunity Knocking
Georgia's depth issues at running back are well-chronicled. Nick Chubb is still recovering from his knee injury, Brendan Douglas has missed all of the spring practice session, A.J. Turman decided to transfer and the duo of Sony Michel and Tae Crowder have been left to absorb the majority of the carries.
Enter: Shaquery Wilson.
The former receiver has been getting reps at tailback late in spring practice, and has impressed head coach Kirby Smart during his short time at the position.
"Well we didn’t think we could get through G-Day without enough backs and Shaquery did a pretty good job Saturday," Smart said, according to Jake Rowe of 247Sports. "We had him back there Saturday sparingly. We ahead and said, 'hey, we’ve got two practices. Let’s make it a full-time move.'"
While it is only "full-time" while depth issues persist, it's a great chance for the 6'1", 190-pound freshman to add a different element to offensive coordinator Jim Chaney's offense. Chaney loves players who can play a variety of roles, and knows how to get the ball in the hands of playmakers in space.
Wilson will get the chance to prove that he's one of those playmakers during Georgia's G-Day, and could become a factor in the fall if things go well.
Quick Outs
- Wisconsin athletics director Barry Alvarez spilled the beans and told ESPN Radio in Milwaukee that ESPN College GameDay will be at Lambeau Field during Week 1 for Wisconsin vs. LSU. That's not exactly surprising, but also probably not how ESPN wanted that news to get out. Either way, that's going to be a fantastic setting to open the season.
- John Infante, formerly of the Bylaw Blog, noted on Twitter that the NCAA has approved new social media rules that will allow coaches to retweet, repost and favorite the posts of potential student-athletes. So get ready for recruits to comment on which programs give the biggest boost to follower count, because that's going to be a thing—a really annoying thing—in the future.
- Former South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier was on Wake Up Zone 104.5 in Nashville on Thursday morning, and doesn't think highly of the talent he left for Will Muschamp in Columbia. "I told Will, 'This is not a loaded team you're stepping into,'" he said, according to Matt Smith of SouthernPigskin.com. Don't sugarcoat it, Head Ball Coach.
Quotes were obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted. Statistics are courtesy of cfbstats.com unless otherwise noted, and recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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