The annual SEC meeting is underway in Destin, Florida this week, but not all of it is boating, fishing, and sun-bathing. Some issues of interest to all SEC coaches and ADs are being discussed, and as usual, there are some dissensions.
Of course one of the hot-button issues right now is satellite camps. Alabama coach Nick Saban had this to say, "You know, we have a lot of crazy rules. The head coach is not allowed to go out during an evaluation period in the spring, but you can go have a satellite camp anywhere in the country to bring your staff in and bring players to it? Does that make sense to anybody? So I think we should have recruiting periods and evaluation periods, and the only time that you should be able to have camp is on your campus. And if the player is interested enough to come to a camp on your campus, then that should be the way it is. Alright? Now it's not that way. It's that way in our league."
Though Saban has been more vocal on the issue, basically all the other football coaches have roughly the same idea. These camps are bascially a recruiting tool to be used during the period of time the head coach isn't allowed to go out in the spring. It skirts the rule.
The SEC did announce yesterday that it is proposing legislation in the issue of satellite camps that would closely mirror that of the Southeastern Conference. They are letting it be know that if changes are not made nationally, the the SEC will be instituting changes to be more competitive in this issue.
Another issue concerns the transferring of a player from another conference to an SEC school if there are academic improprieties, such as was the case with Golson out of Notre Dame. RollBamaRoll.com quoted the Baton Rouge Advocate with an explanation of the rule:
"The rule requires transfers to have two years of eligibility remaining and a waiver for any player attempting to transfer after being disciplined at his previous school, as was the case for Golson."
Though outgoing SEC commissioner Mike Slive didn't say where he stood on the issue, he did point out that, "We (the SEC) had the rule long before we got here. We've lost sight of the fact that it's an old rule."
Saban and the other coaches believe the rule should be amended or changed in some way to allow the SEC to be more competitive in situations such as occurred with Golson.
The SEC coaches simply want the SEC rules and the other conference rules, as well as the NCAA rules to be the same, to give everyone a level playing field. If the other conferences have a competitive advantage because of their own league rules, or loop holes in NCAA rules and they aren't going to change, they'd like the SEC to make some adjustments.
According to CBSSports.com, Saban commented, "If we're going to compete for the championship and everybody is going to play in the playoff system and everybody is going to compete for that, we need to get our rules in alignment so we're all on a level playing field, whether they're transfer rules, whether they're satellite camp rules, It's a disadvantage not being able to do something in one league and not be able to do it in another. It's a disadvantage not to be able to recruit a player in one league and not be able to do it in another."
In another issue, the SEC begins this season requiring an independent medical observer for all SEC and non-conference football games in which they participate. These observers will have the power to stop the game and remove any player they deem with an injury, especially to the head, that could cause permanent or serious damage.
These and other issues will continue to be discussed this week in Destin.
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Nick Saban Interview By Finebaum
University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban sat down with Paul Finebaum yesterday afternoon on The Paul Finebaum Show on the SEC Network. Saban spoke of his fishing trip, the wedding preparations for his daughter's upcoming nuptials, his grandchild, and Alabama football.
Talk of the fishing trip transitioned easily into last season's team, and more in depth as to the loss Bama suffered in the Sugar Bowl at the hands of Ohio State. Finebaum mentioned to Saban that he has preached finishing in the fourth quarter, and joked that it appeared that's what Saban did to land the big fish.
Saban smiled and spoke of how proud he was that he and his friends all caught a fish, a total of five, and said that he did indeed finish in landing his. He then transitioned to football saying, "...it is one of the things that we've been very concerned about...is how we finished the last two seasons and certainly, hopefully want to do a better job of that this year, you know, with our team. Hopefully we can focus on the team and get our players committed . You know there's a lot of distractions for players late in the season. You have a lot of guys that are gonna get drafted, a lot of juniors that are thinking about coming out early for the draft...a lot of pressure relative to the expectations they have for where you are. So this is something that we need to do a better job of managing so that we have a better chance to compete at a higher level and finish strong."
Finebaum brought up the disappointing Sugar Bowl loss to Ohio State. Saban replied, "We just didn't seem like we played really well against Ohio State. We got ahead 21-6 in the game, but seemed like we got a little relief syndrome like. And they're a very, very good team, and when you play really good teams they're going to compete for 60 minutes in the game and you've got to match them play for play, down in and down out. And you know, we just didn't do a very good job of that."
Saban went on to say he took responsibility for the team not performing to what he believed was their potential once they got into the game with Ohio State. He said that the time between the SEC Championship game and the playoff/bowl game, "we kind of lost our mojo a little bit and it affected how we played."
When Finebaum brought up whether Saban liked the current playoff system, or the possibility of going to eight teams, Saban clarified his stance, saying that he didn't object to the playoff itself, just that it should be kept separate from the bowl games. Whether it was the current four game playoff or changed to an eight game playoff, he was adamant in that the bowl games needed to be preserved and they should be a separate entity from the playoff.
Saban would like to see the bowl games played as the "reward" for the teams for which they had originally been intended. He brought up how the week of the bowls the teams could let their hair down a little and enjoy the festivities leading up to the games. But the playoffs change that with their importance in the overall scope of things.
He further pointed to last year's national championship game, in that it was not a part of a bowl game. It was separate from the bowls. He wants to see that put into effect in the playoffs for all the games, whether a four team format or eight. He then referenced the Sugar Bowl, saying let it be the bowl game as it had always been, then play a separate playoff game there.
Saban currently boasts a 91-17 record during his eight seasons at the helm of the Crimson Tide. Last season's record was 12-2 overall, 7-1 in the Southeastern Conference.
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