HOOVER, Ala. — Auburn Tigers Head Football Coach Gus Malzahn and Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban will serve alongside two other SEC coaches and two athletic directors on a committee that will help the conference deal with numerous recruiting issues. Specifically, they will deal with the fallout of the NCAA’s latest rule changes.
“Really it’s saying that we have concerns about the new recruiting package that was adopted and you’ve probably read and heard of those concerns by our football coaches,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said at SEC Media Days this week.
Other committee members include Missouri coach Barry Odom, Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason, Florida AD Scott Stricklin, and Arkansas AD Jeff Long. Some of the NCAA rule changes the committee will address include new dates for national signing day, heightened summer camp regulations, and the restrictions on schools hiring “people close to a prospective student-athlete” for two years before and after that student’s enrollment at the school.
The latter rule change has struck coaches as unfair to future colleagues working to make it into the college ranks. “It’s a death sentence to any high school coach wanting to coach college (football),” Malzahn told the Montgomery Advertiser. “It’s not fair.”
Saban has been equally critical of the new rules and stated that they make it tough on student athletes who typically relied on having coaches help them out with summer camps. He also feels that NCAA is working to “close loopholes” that have helped his teams over the years.
Both Alabama and Auburn have big matchups at the beginning of the season. The Crimson Tide takes on Florida State in Atlanta in the opening weekend’s marquee matchup, while Auburn takes on reigning national champion Clemson in week two.
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