ncaa: the bureaucracy

this could be us but you listenin' to Atlantic Hockey coaches [Bill Rapai]

Cullen pursuit. After Sam Webb broke news that Michigan was pursuing Kansas City DL coach Joe Cullen to be their defensive coordinator, an NFL reporter, uh, reported that Michigan wasn't the only team in pursuit:

The Commanders have since filled their spot, leaving the Seahawks. It makes sense that Mike Macdonald would probably both 1) recommend Cullen and 2) consider him for his own DC slot, since both guys have that Ravens background. Webb notes that Macdonald is going to be his own DC, though:

“Yeah, right now the plan is I’ll be calling the plays,’’ Macdonald said Thursday during his introductory news conference. “Now, depending on who the defensive coordinator is and when that becomes — ultimately, I’m the head coach of the football team, so I want to coach the football team. Right now, the best way that we can win in my opinion is for me to call the plays, and then when it becomes obvious that someone else is ready to go and we see it the same way, then we’ll make that change.’’

Cullen may want to be the guy, or the Seahawks may turn their attention to someone else.

[After THE JUMP: death to the NCAA, returning production, home regionals now]

we're talking transfers so here's Frankie NO I AM NOT OVER IT YET [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

It's back. Mmmm, Cheap Seats except tackling UFC 1. Which has Jim Brown doing color! Simultaneous thoughts: "why?" and "how did you get friggin' Jim Brown?"

The Sklars would appreciate a like on the video; this first episode is free to the world, future ones will be on UFC Fight Pass. Sign up, or deprive yourselves. I don't make the rules.

A large survey. ESPN surveyed "over 200 coaches, players, and administrators" about where college football is going. Upshots:

  • A healthy majority (60%) of respondents think football should no longer be under the NCAA umbrella at all.
  • A whopping 80% characterized NIL as a "black-market pay-for-play system that is being used to secure recruits and transfers," which means Michigan is in a small minority of naïve teams. Also it's a gray market—not explicitly prohibited but of murky validity.
  • 75% say tampering is a problem that needs to be addressed, which is essentially impossible right now.
  • A third of respondents favor a 12 team playoff model; another third favor eight teams, with other formats taking the remaining third.
  • Only 15% endorsed lifting the one-time transfer restriction, about which more in the next bullet.
  • Also relevant to next bullet: 88% of respondents believe direct player compensation is on the horizon, with a majority expecting it within five years.
[Hit the JUMP for immediate transfer status]
karan higdon could get an extra year [Bryan Fuller]

[lead image: Bryan Fuller]

Two fairly major NCAA rule changes just came down the pipe, and both are unambiguously good. #1 is an elimination of most transfer restrictions:

The Division I Council adopted a proposal this week that creates a new “notification-of-transfer” model. This new system allows a student to inform his or her current school of a desire to transfer, then requires that school to enter the student’s name into a national transfer database within two business days. Once the student-athlete’s name is in the database, other coaches are free to contact that individual.

The "most" in the previous sentence is because of this: "Conferences, however, still can make rules that are more restrictive than the national rule." Many conferences had extra restrictions against intra-conference transfers as of about a decade ago; as anyone who's followed the success talismans known as Beilein grad transfers knows, the Big Ten did away with theirs in 2012. I'm not sure if other conferences have followed suit. I kind of doubt the SEC has since bolting for juco for one year and then bouncing back to another conference school is a fairly common practice.

This hereby ends the irritating news cycle that goes:

  1. Player Wants To Transfer
  2. School Says Player Can't Go To Various Schools
  3. Outrage!
  4. "Sorry, Sorry, I'm Trying To Delete It" Says School
  5. Player Goes To Iowa State Anyway

So it's got that going for us. Also a slight inch away from NCAA serfdom.

[After THE JUMP: suspense! what's the other rule change! crap i shouldn't have mentioned it in the title]