Coaches play the curious game of oversigning in college football

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Ohio Pete

All-Conference
Coaches play the curious game of oversigning in college football

The fax machine in the Ole Miss football office began spitting out signed National Letters of Intent early in the morning Feb. 4. As the day went on, the fax machine kept humming. By the time Rebels coach Houston Nutt addressed the media on Signing Day, 37 players had inked with Ole Miss. In other words, 37 players had signed a document that promised them a one-year, renewable athletic scholarship provided they met the school's academic requirements and the NCAA's academic and amateurism requirements.
Here's where the math gets sticky. The NCAA allows schools to bring in a maximum of 25 new scholarship football players in an academic year. Furthermore, each school can keep only 85 players on scholarship at any given time. After subtracting departing seniors and walk-ons from the Ole Miss roster, the Rebels could bring back as many as 64 current scholarship players next season, though, since most schools lose between five to 10 players a year through attrition, that isn't likely. So how will Ole Miss accommodate all those players?

It won't.

"I checked with [compliance director] David [Wells], and there's no rule that says that we can't sign 80," Nutt said at that Signing Day press conference. "All I know is we have to have 25 ready to go in August ready and eligible."

Nutt is correct. Some players won't qualify academically and will go to junior college or to prep school. Others may accept a grayshirt, meaning they will delay full-time enrollment until January, giving them five years to play beginning with the 2010 season.

Neither Ole Miss nor any of the 30 Football Bowl Subdivision schools that signed more than 25 players this month have broken any existing NCAA rule. Nor is Ole Miss alone, even in its own conference. Seven of the 12 SEC schools signed more than 25 this year, and five of the 11 schools that oversigned in 2008 and 2009 are from the SEC. Besides Ole Miss, five of those 30 schools joined the 30-plus-signees club this year, including Troy (40), Hawaii (31), Arkansas (30), Central Michigan (30) and South Florida (30).

As long as programs keep their total at 85 scholarships and don't bring in more than 25 a year, the NCAA has no quarrel -- for now. The NCAA's Football Issues Committee discussed oversigning and grayshirting at its January meeting. The committee, which comprises coaches, athletic directors and conference administrators, agreed to monitor oversigning, but Sun Belt Conference commissioner Wright Waters, the committee's chair, said until the committee can get some hard data, it can't determine if oversigning is an issue that requires legislation.

"We don't know yet, because we don't know the numbers," Waters said. "If you look at it purely in principle, you're uncomfortable with it. But you've also got to ask if kids are being benefited by it. If they are, then you've got to find a way to not hurt those kids and at the same time make sure you maintain a level playing field." More
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Sometimes, however, the numbers don't work. Nutt's 31-player class in 2008 included a quarterback/defensive back from Sherwood, Ark., named Hunter Miller. Last summer, it became clear the Rebels had more qualified signees than they had available scholarships. Nutt asked Miller to grayshirt. Miller declined and asked to be released from his letter of intent so he could walk on at Arkansas. Reached this week, Miller's mother, Dawn, said she would rather not comment except to say that there were no hard feelings and that "everything worked out best for Hunter," who has since transferred to a junior college to play baseball.
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Another relatively unexplored issue is grayshirting's effect on the National Letter of Intent, the contract between player and school that guarantees a scholarship. The Frequently Asked Questions section of the NCAA's NLI Web site warns athletes to "be aware of the informal nature of this commitment." Meanwhile, Section 6-A-2 of the NLI suggests schools cannot hold athletes to their letters of intent if oversigning forces them to grayshirt. "This NLI shall be rendered null and void if I am eligible for admission, but the institution named in this document defers admission to a subsequent term," the section states. "However, this NLI remains binding if I defer my admission."
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Well Nutt just made some room:

Mississippi coach Houston Nutt has dismissed Justin Sanders and James Scott from the football team for an unspecified violation of team rules.
Sanders, a defensive tackle from New Market, Ala., did not play in his two seasons with the Rebels.

Scott, a transfer from Ohio State last September, never played either after sitting out last season because of NCAA rules. The Daytona Beach, Fla., player appeared in nine games for the Buckeyes in 2007, recording six tackles.
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Oversigning definitely opens these schools for negative recruiting.

 
SEC= South Eastern Cheaters. Along with USC and Oklahoma, I want to see the SEC teams start getting nailed again by the NCAA. I know this issue is not against the rules, but they are screwing young athletes right and left.

 
Although this happens a lot in the SEC, oversigning is just a fact of life in college football. Coaches know that many players won't qualify so they need to sign more to compensate for these players. Also, signing the letter of intent is not the same as signing the scholarship. Many of these players are essentially waiting in limbo until the actual scholarship is signed. If more players end up qualifying than the coaching staff had thought, they simply pul scholarships from those who were at the bottom of the list. Sucks, but thats the way it works.

In addition to these facts, scholarships are only renewable for one year, then one year the year afte that and so on. Although it is assumed that when one signs with a college he will be on scholarship all four years, coaches may decide after a season not to renew a player's scholarship (Tommy Bowden did not renew 6 players' scholarships when he first started at Auburn). Not renewing obviously opens up space for extra players in the signing class.

 
Huskers Forever said:
SEC= South Eastern Cheaters. Along with USC and Oklahoma, I want to see the SEC teams start getting nailed again by the NCAA. I know this issue is not against the rules, but they are screwing young athletes right and left.
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Go back and look at the last 5-6 recruiting classes NU brought in.

 
It'll be nice once the NCAA implements a rule to curb this. Then schools will actually have to go back to recruitting student-athletes, not just athletes.

 
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