DESTIN, Fla. — SEC presidents on Friday went against the wishes of their football coaches and voted to reduce to 25 the number of players its schools are able to sign to scholarships each year.
That number is to include mid-year and summer enrollees. The period during which the prospect can be signed was expanded and will run from Dec. 1 through May 31.
Previous SEC legislation, which was adopted by the rest of the nation last year, limited annual football signees to 28. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive and the SEC are drafting a proposal to send to the NCAA asking it to also to adopt the changes.
“The goal here is to make sure that we can balance the equities between prospective student-athletes and our institutions,” Slive told reporters after the four-day meetings were adjourned Friday. “We believe these proposals are thoughtful and important to the extent we will be aggressive pursuing them on a national level.”
The University of Georgia was in favor of the new legislation. UGA president Michael Adams and athletic director Greg McGarity deferred comment to Slive and Florida President Bernie Machen, the reigning SEC chairman. But Adams did express his support of the actions as he walked out of the meeting.
“It’s a good day to be in the SEC,” he said to reporters. “Everybody did the right thing.”
According to South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, the league’s coaches voted 12-0 to keep the maximum number at 28. They contended the 28 rule had not been in place long enough to know whether it was working. Slive and the presidents obviously disagreed.
“It’s been two years,” Slive said. “We feel like we’ve had enough experience with it. I believe the coaches can manage this way and still have the flexibility to do all the things they need to do.”
Slive also disagreed with contentions the new rule would hurt quality of play in the conference. SEC teams have won the past five BCS national championships.
“No one, no one wants to win more than I do,” Slive said. “But we don’t want to win at the expense of young people.”
The 25-maximum rule was just one part of a five-part proposal the SEC is calling its “roster management” legislation. It gives the SEC office power to oversee the entire scholarship process, including the issuance of medical-exemption scholarships.
The other roster-management parts:
- Eliminated the one-year graduate-student exception adopted just last year. A student-athlete who transfers in must have two years of eligibility remaining in order to participate in athletics (won't be implemented the 2012 season).
- The conference office will oversee the administration of medical-scholarship exemptions. The SEC will have a role in reviewing and deciding the outcome of each medically related exemption.
- A prospective student-athlete who attends summer school will count against that school year's scholarship total.
- No financial-aid agreements can be signed until a prospect enrolls as a full-time student.
Over-signing was only one of the items on the SEC agenda. Other business conducted and voted on included:
- The elimination of divisional play in men's basketball, as expected.
- The rule to temporarily allow Mississippi State to use artificial noisemakers (cowbells) was extended one more year. However, the school was fined $30,000 for misusing them in the first two games of last season ($5,000 for first offense and $25,000 for second). The school will now be fined $50,000 for each additional offense going forward.
- The elimination of 7-on-7 flag football tournaments and games on campus and SEC coaches involvement or attendance.
- The distribution of a record $220 million among the 12 member institutions. That's an average of $18.3 million per school.
