COMMENTARY

SEC football coaches whine and dine in sunny Florida

Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, left, talks with Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema before an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn, left, talks with Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema before an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

An exhibition season for college football?

Well, not exactly. But what else would you call a situation where freshmen get to play up to four games, probably against inferior nonconference opponents, and still have four more years left to play?

One-by-one, SEC football coaches were united in pushing for relaxed redshirt rules during the league's spring meeting last week in Destin, Fla. Under current policy, a player loses his redshirt if he participates in even one game, and a player doesn't get a medical redshirt if he plays in three games prior to injury. The American Football Coaches Association supports the rule change, possibly as early as 2018.

"On the front end, you may have a kid that you feel is ready to play and, maybe after a couple of games, you realize it's too big for him," Arkansas coach Bret Bielema said. "But you'd give kids a chance to get into it."

Have you seen Arkansas' schedule for 2018? The Razorbacks open with Eastern Illinois then follow with games against Colorado State and North Texas State before their SEC opener against Texas A&M. Ole Miss in 2018 will face Texas Tech, Southern Illinois, Kent State and Louisiana-Monroe, while South Carolina hosts Coastal Carolina and Marshall before the start of SEC play.

Coaches would likely use those nonconference games as extended tryouts before placing most of the freshmen in storage for future use. So, how would this process be any different from the NFL preseason, where rookies and free agents litter the field before the veterans take over once the season starts?

"As a coach, sometimes you've got to make quick decisions in fall camp," Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. "I think this will give everyone more information and not hurt the player as much."

Really, Gus? Aren't college football coaches paid big bucks to make decisions? Reminds me of Arkansas football in 2001, which used four quarterbacks in the season-opener against UNLV before settling on Matt Jones as the starter.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the feedback was positive toward changing the redshirt rule and allowing players more than four years, whether they're injured or not. Of course the feedback is positive, when the SEC football coaches are doing all the talking.

Ask the professors on college campuses if millionaire coaches need more help to do their jobs.

Hey, I love football, especially college football, and I don't have to be reminded that football pays the bills for most other sports on campus. I see it every time I cover a women's basketball game before thousands of empty seats at Bud Walton Arena.

The question is whether college football coaches with 85 scholarships should be allowed to snap their fingers and get everything they want? I don't think so, especially when a successful program like Arkansas baseball survives on 11.7 scholarships divided among the players. The Arkansas football roster lists seven tight ends, which is the same number of outfielders on the Arkansas baseball roster.

Hey, do you like free agency? Then, college football is the place for you.

The SEC on Friday agreed to relax the league's graduate transfer rule, where a player who's graduated from one school can play his final season at another school. The penalty was reduced from three years to one year for graduate transfers who fails to meet academic standards during their time on campus.

The immediate change allows graduate student Malik Zaire, the former Notre Dame quarterback, to transfer to Florida, which already has four quarterbacks on its roster.

"Let's go!!!!!!," Zaire posted on his Twitter account shortly after hearing the news. Zaire hasn't announced he's headed to Florida instead of Texas, but you can bet his tweet will be updated to "Let's go, Gators!!!!!!"

Coaches complain all the time about young players who transfer to other schools. But they're OK with bringing in a graduate transfer to possibly play ahead of an upperclassman who's stuck it out?

Guess so.

Freshmen in all college sports weren't eligible to play varsity sports until 1968 when the NCAA changed the policy. Four years later, the rule was amended to allow football and basketball players to participate as well.

Those were changes that added to the popularity of college sports and eliminated the cost of fielding separate junior varsity teams. Good moves, for sure.

But allowing college players more than four years of eligibility seems drastic. There has to be some restrictions, even with college football coaches who came together last week to whine and dine on the sandy beaches of Destin, Fla.

Sports on 06/04/2017

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