Sunday, June 12, 2011

Is SEC Football Oversigning Ethical?

If you are one of the players that was asked to put your enrollment, scholarship, and college football career on hold, then your answer is likely no. If you are this person, SEC football coaches do not agree with you. They recently voted 12-0 to keep the number of signing slots at 28.

Even Florida coach, Will Muschamp voted to keep the number of signing spots the same, despite the fact that Florida makes it a point to not sign more than 25 players each year. It looks like Muschamp wants to keep his options open, just in case.

It is easy to see the point of view of these SEC football coaches. Signing 28 players gives you them a little room to work with. There is no way for them to predict who might change their mind about playing, who might not be able to make the grades, and who may take off for other reasons. No, these things do not happen every year, and when they do not, as many as three players will be highly disappointed.

However, these players are not completely shut out in the cold. They will still get what they came for, just at a later time. There is the option to transfer to another school, although this would mean sitting out an entire year before being able to play. I do feel sorry for these players on some level. However, it is the job of SEC football coaches to put the best team possible on the field. In order to make this happen, they need to have all 25 recruits available to play. Not 24, not 22...all 25.

It is not that SEC football coaches do not feel badly for recruits that are pushed back, but simply that they have a job to do. We, the fans, want to see our team come out on top, and should not chastise them for doing what it takes to make this possible.

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