SEC Coaches Defend Oversigning

**cigaretteman** · 03-03-2011, 08:46 AM

Spurrier said oversigning is "helpful" because so many of the players in the state come from underprivileged backgrounds and may not qualify academically. He said the Big Ten, which has curbed oversigning for decades, is making a mistake by doing so. "I think that really hurts them a lot," Spurrier said. "They end up giving scholarships to a lot of walk-ons."
Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, who signed 31 recruits in 2009 and is a few players over the 85-player NCAA limit at the moment, said oversigning is fine if coaches are forthright about it. "I don't see it as a bad thing unless you're being dishonest or waiting until the last minute, which eliminates their visit opportunities with other schools," he said.
Houston Nutt, Mississippi's coach, signed 31 players in 2008, 37 in 2009, 25 last year and 28 last month. He said oversigning is sometimes "necessary," mainly to plug holes. This year, he said, two cornerbacks—Jermaine Whitehead and Floyd Raven—defected at the last minute. "Now I'm sitting here without two corners. You just can't have this perfect world of, 'We're gonna sign 22 this year.'"

SEC Coaches Defend 'Oversigning' - WSJ.com

**Yes13** · 03-03-2011, 08:54 AM

Oversigning is just propoganda made by the Big 10 to excuse them getting killed by the SEC.

**Clonehomer** · 03-03-2011, 08:56 AM

Well Mr. Spurrier, I know this is a strange concept in the SEC, but maybe you should consider grades during the recruiting process. If the kid doesn't have the grades to get into school you shouldn't rely on them to be there in the fall. And don't say that the Big10's system "hurts them a lot" because they play by the rules. That's asinine.

I do agree with Petrino though. If the coaches tell the players upfront that they will only get a scholarship if someone doesn't make it to campus, then I really don't have a problem. But, how often do you think that conversation takes place?

**3GenClone** · 03-03-2011, 08:58 AM

This year, Spurrier said that so many recruits chose South Carolina that they wound up with two more players than they could take under conference rules. The team told Jordan Montgomery, a linebacker from Groveland, Fla. and Lorenzo Mauldin, a defensive end from Atlanta, that there wasn't room for them in this year's class.
Montgomery's high school coach, Walter Banks, said, "I told them this was foul. I didn't have a clue until 18 hours before signing day, and if they say anything else, they're lying."
Spurrier said he selected those two players because they had the furthest to go to qualify academically. Both players could still be in South Carolina's class next year. "What we probably could've done earlier in the recruiting is tell them that this could happen," he said. "But then again, we didn't know it was going to come up. It's a ticklish situation."

How do you not know how many students you recruit? I hope Coach Rhoads holds on to articles like this when he visits players in SEC country. Is it better to take a chance at an over-signing SEC program, or have a better chance of getting a scholarship at a less-prominent BCS program?