DESTIN, Fla. - Although there seems to be a definite move among college football coaches nationwide to push for an early signing period like basketball has, SEC coaches seem split on the matter.
The period likely would be in mid-December when schools are allowed to sign junior college players.
"I'm concerned it would make recruiting even nuttier than it already is," Georgia coach Mark Richt said Tuesday at the SEC meetings. "I'm afraid that we'll have to deal with recruits taking a lot of official visits during the season. We need to spend the time on our own team.
Alabama coach Nick Saban said he's fine with a December early signing period.
"A lot of high school coaches are opposed to having it (an early signing period) before a senior year, and I can understand why," Saban said. "But I also feel we spend six weeks after Christmas chasing down guys we've had committed for six months or year, worrying about whether they are going to flip on you.
"With an early signing period, we could spent a lot of time on the guys who haven't committed yet and learning about the younger guys in an evaluation process."
Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer said he sees both sides of the argument, but now is swayed for an early period.
"There's no reason you can't get some of the guys off the board, and spend that time and money babysitting kids the entire month of January," Fulmer said.
Tebow Drives: And now, Tim Tebow, the golfer.
Florida coach Urban Meyer confirmed he saw his Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback recently at a charity golf event drive a golf ball 370 yards. It was the first time Tebow has picked up a golf club.
"It had a nice little draw to it," Meyer said. "Usually, a maniac hits a ball that hard as a slice. He (Tebow) could be a tremendous golfer if he worked at it.
"He swung - agggggg - as hard as he can. And the ball was going agggggg! It was something."
If It's Good For Saban: Saban offered no apologies for using video teleconferencing to circumvent NCAA rule banning head football coaches from visiting high schools in May.
He's angry, because he felt the rule was installed and pointed at him. Saban said he got the teleconferencing idea when he coached the NFL's Miami Dolphins and the team had to converse with physicians.
"We (the coaches) get paid a lot of money, you all write about that all the time," Saban said. "Evaluating players is part of it. I'm an NFL guy. We watch a guy play in college, we watch him at the combine, we work the guy out.
"I like going to the practice and watching the guy. It promotes our game. It's good for the high school coaches and it's good for the players.
"The rule was made because everybody gets paranoid about what everybody else was doing. I got turned in (for supposed rules violations) because of what I was supposedly doing. I wasn't doing that."
Fulmer said his program added video teleconferencing and that he'll make his recruiting debut on it next week.
"Nick's out there ahead of the curve," Fulmer said, "and it's legal. So if they're going to do it, we're going to do it.
"Like text messaging, this is another way to communicate. The NCAA will probably eventually rule that you can't do it. That's why the rulebook was made, because of the abuses. That's why the rulebook is so thick."
Tennessee 69, South Carolina 57 men's…
Tennessee 60, Connecticut 57 men's…
Tennessee 73, Georgia 62 men's…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 20
Bigger_Al writes:
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/
may/27/florida-recruiting-trouble/?sports
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/
may/27/all-over-map/?sports
Here are a couple of very interesting articles from the Chattanooga Times Free Press regarding the Class of 2005. Sorry, I can't figure out how to post the link in the proper format, but if you cut and paste in your browser, should work...
Seriously, this is why we need a change at the top of the KNS sports team. Adams is more worried about getting himself on Alabama radio than writing anything substantive, and smaller papers are writing about things that sports fans really want to read.
Here's another about Brandon Warren being in School:http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/
2008/may/23/university-tennessee-has-warren
-school/?sportscollege
Here's one about Austin's brother being the fastest kid in the state:http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/
2008/may/24/tennesse-five-questions-zach
-rogers/?sports
imw8n4u writes:
ok - I have to be the first to call B.S. on the Tebow drive crapola. These Tebowisms are really getting out of control.
Ironcity writes:
I was there. Tebow hit the ball 40 yards but it hit a tree and came back a hundred yards!
Ironcity writes:
I meant to say 470 yards
TommyJack writes:
Tebow the golfer, huh? New meaning to the skins game....
WorkinLikeHeck writes:
"Nick's out there ahead of the curve," Fulmer said, "and it's legal. So if they're going to do it, we're going to do it.
*******Surprise. Surpise. Foolmore behind the curve and being reactive rather than proactive. Give him another darn raise.
WorkinLikeHeck writes:
also, who were the people on here that wanted Daniel Hood from Catholic to commit and play for Tennessee?
dfreeman
volchaz
bigorangedude
BigOrangeJeff
volboy81
huntined
You may want to re-think that one:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/200...
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
WTH, maybe just say 'no recruiting, no scholarships' and have the kids show up in the fall and tryout, pay 'em a salary, and be done with all this nonsense.
FWBVol writes:
I like the idea of a December signing period. Back in the dark ages (1970s) when I was in high school, the signing period was late November or early December. Of course schools were able to offer more scholarships then and Rivals and the other recruiting services hadn't come of age and become part of the act.
I was talking with my best friend this afternoon, a former Auburn football player, about all the discipline problems everywhere in college football and basketball.
He said the big problems started when the NCAA did away with athletic dorms and mandated only 20 hours a week or whatever it is for practice and a game during football season. He said with the athletic dorm the coaches had more control over their team. If all the football players at UT were housed in Gibbs as they used to be, the coaches could have a curfew, do bedchecks and know when a guy was out at 2 a.m.
With the shorter practices, a healthy young man still has too much energy at the end of the day. If Phillip Fulmer and the other coaches were allowed to practice their team longer they might be too tired to get into trouble.
But I guess it's easier to blame a coach who has a team living in dorms all over campus and apartment complexes around a city.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
fwbvol, good post.
GreerVol22 writes:
"Nick's out there ahead of the curve," Fulmer said, "and it's legal. So if they're going to do it, we're going to do it.
way to go Phil. Don't innovate, just immitate.
GoVol writes:
I'm sure Phil's comment about 'babysitting these kids' will go a long way toward his recruting efforts also. What an idiot!
richvol writes:
Some of this problem with recruiting would come to an end with a simple solution. Set two hard and fast dates...before a kid's senior season and one after. If he committs in either one that's it. No changing or visits of any kind after that. This would stop all this ridiculous worry, handholding and follow-up travel that makes recruiting such a pain and would save large amounts of money. I find it hard to believe the NCAA can't see this. Why UT's, or someone elses athletic department has not proposed this is beyond me.
CoverOrange writes:
Saban: "I'm an NFL guy." Now that's funny.
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
workin,
Deeply disturbing.
vol_in_lsu_land writes:
Hey all of you on Phil's case about not "innovating", maybe we should get Al Gore to be UTs coach...after all, he invented the internet and all.
txsvol#372416 writes:
I got it, TommyJack! LOL, SAVol
thesavageorange writes:
WorkinLikeHeck , Saw that yesterday, but wasn't sure whether or not to post it.Sad story.Are you of my opinion that CPF should pull the offer?I think Hood should take one of the the offers from either Colorado or UCLA.This thing is gaining momentum, and he might want to find a more liberal part of the country to play football.
Another thing.Did her dad forget where his shotgun was?
WorkinLikeHeck writes:
Well it's out there. I figure that people could click the link if they wanted the story. Since nobody reads my posts, I figured it stay buries. I'd say that I would pull the offer.
TIDE29viles9 writes:
"Babysitting kids"
that's your coach
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.