South Carolina to start grad assistant at QB
August 31st, 2021 at 10:24 AM ^
In fairness, he was the QB at NDSU after Trey Lance, and he obviously can still play.
August 31st, 2021 at 10:27 AM ^
Didn't realize this was allowed. Then again, the NCAA is a joke.
August 31st, 2021 at 10:37 AM ^
Yeah, he's a student at the school, and with eligibility remaining
August 31st, 2021 at 11:47 AM ^
Yeah, he's a student at the school, and with eligibility remaining
I was a strength & conditioning graduate assistant. I got paid a biweekly stipend. I have to assume he's getting paid by the athletic department, which would make him not eligible to play if my understanding is correct. That makes him a professional athlete by NCAA standards getting paid directly by who he is playing for....or at least that's how I understood the rule.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:54 AM ^
BUT, were you at an SEC school and could you play QB? That changes the "rules" significantly...
August 31st, 2021 at 12:12 PM ^
BUT, were you at an SEC school and could you play QB? That changes the "rules" significantly...
August 31st, 2021 at 1:12 PM ^
Ha! I thought of this exact same gif when he asked that question.
August 31st, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
He's paid to be a coach, not to be a player. I would assume he'd have to suspend his stipend to remain an amateur, but a lot of student athletes have jobs.
August 31st, 2021 at 4:37 PM ^
He was being “paid” to coach and all players receive stipends anyway (scholarship ones do anyway).
August 31st, 2021 at 11:16 AM ^
Players making hundreds of thousands in NIL money is acceptable but a player with remaining eligibility, who is actively pursuing a masters degree is an outrageous failure of the NCAA? Good for him, the school, and the NCAA in this case. It seems like no one is set up to benefit in this scenario and this guy is stepping up to help his team.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:49 AM ^
Players making hundreds of thousands in NIL money is acceptable but a player with remaining eligibility, who is actively pursuing a masters degree is an outrageous failure of the NCAA?
I don't recall saying this situation is what made the NCAA a joke. I certainly didn't say it was an outrageous failure. Lots of other stuff made the NCAA a joke. I'm perfectly fine with this one...just didn't think it was allowed. Take a breath & don't be so argumentative. I'm just clarifying here. We're all on the same side.
August 31st, 2021 at 1:43 PM ^
Didn't realize this was allowed. Then again, the NCAA is a joke.
Ok thanks for clarifying, but when you make that statement, it didn’t read like an approval of the situation. I’m not being argumentative. You made what I thought was a pretty obvious statement of disapproval of these circumstances. I disagreed. Maybe I misinterpreted. I do agree the NCAA is a joke, I just didn’t think it applied here.
August 31st, 2021 at 1:01 PM ^
There is a big difference between a school’s athletic department paying a student to coach, then converting him to a player, and a player being free to sell his NIL to some entity other than the school. Players always had the right to earn money by employment, by investments, by buying and selling things of value, as long as a school or its boosters or agents were not involved. NIL was a property right student athletes should have always been able to exploit but the greedy schools and their leagues and associations wanted to exploit NIL in addition to athletes’ labor. If the SC QB does well, watch for other schools to try exploiting the same loophole by hiring former QB’s with eligibility, trying them out as paid assistants, then playing them in games when needed.
August 31st, 2021 at 1:56 PM ^
Do you really think there is a hot market for former football players who have decided to hang up their gear and pursue a non-playing career? No. And if so, do you really think a player that has failed to get drafted by that point in their career(and effectively quit playing) is really going to give teams an advantage? Also, no.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
Really no reason it wouldn't be allowed
August 31st, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
I honestly don't see the problem. It's definitely an edge case, but graduate assistants are still students and the guy still has eligibility left. Unless it's changed in the last few years, they're not earning much money beyond their scholarship.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:52 AM ^
graduate assistants are still students and the guy still has eligibility left.
I just thought you couldn't be paid directly by the university and have eligibility. I know I got paid as a GA when I was an S&C GA.
August 31st, 2021 at 12:01 PM ^
I'm sure the fix is to pay it back, so he can be eligible, or maybe he is an unpaid intern who gets his school paid for.
August 31st, 2021 at 3:07 PM ^
Like ldevon1 said, they probably dropped his stipend when they made him quarterback--and I would be surprised to see him doing any actual coaching at this point. It would not seem to be a good idea.
Well, maybe some mentoring of whatever other quarterbacks are on the roster.
August 31st, 2021 at 10:31 AM ^
I think Pete Rose was the last player/coach in any major sport?
August 31st, 2021 at 10:34 AM ^
Didnt Tree Rollins do this for the Orlando Magic? Someone check my math
August 31st, 2021 at 10:57 AM ^
Dave Cowens with the Celtics.
Lance Harbor (QB) taking over in-game coaches duties for West Canaan High.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:46 AM ^
I feel Lance Harbor doesn’t really count since he had already suffered a career ending injury at that point and Mox already locked the position down in his place.
“I love that dog”
August 31st, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^
Though injured, he was still on the roster.
August 31st, 2021 at 12:15 PM ^
Lance was an early adopter of the spread offense - often overlooked by today's historians.
August 31st, 2021 at 2:38 PM ^
Oopty Oop. Overload the defense on one side, burn them one on one on the other.
August 31st, 2021 at 1:09 PM ^
I think it's a pig.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:46 AM ^
You are correct --- Tree Rollins was a player-assistant coach. Not a player-head coach (and there were actually quite a few of those in the 50s to 70s era NBA/ABA), but a player-assistant coach.
There was a "30 for 30" on the Shaq/Penny-era Magic that I saw the other day, it explicitly mentioned this fact.
August 31st, 2021 at 3:12 PM ^
And look no further than our backyard and Dave DeBusschere. Not only did he play in the NBA for the Pistons and in major league baseball for the White Sox in 1962 and 1963, but he then became the head coach of the Pistons in 1964 and continued to play for the Pistons when only 24 years old!
August 31st, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
Happens more often than you think in Europe.
Wayne Rooney (Derby), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Vincent Kompany (Anderlecht)... all player-coaches.
August 31st, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^
I've always wondered why they don't just give Lebron the "head coach" title. And I don't mean that as a slam. It's apparent that he has total control of the roster and game management.
August 31st, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
Don't forget Reg Dunlop
August 31st, 2021 at 2:25 PM ^
Chris Chambliss, New York Yankees, 1988.He was their hitting coach, was added to the roster after an injury, got an at bat, and was released 2 days later (but stayed the hitting coach.) So, for 3 days, he was a player-coach 2 years after Rose hung it up as a player.
August 31st, 2021 at 10:41 AM ^
Huh, I was not aware you could do that. I guess if he goes down they have the water and towel boys.
August 31st, 2021 at 10:54 AM ^
I think I saw a movie about that once.
August 31st, 2021 at 4:19 PM ^
Luke Fickell was in it.
August 31st, 2021 at 10:46 AM ^
Is this the same Grad assistant that out coached UM in the '18 Outback bowl?
August 31st, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
You'll have to be more specific. Lots of GAs have outcoached the Michigan staff.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
You mean "Tim Drevno's wet fart of an audition for OC" game?
August 31st, 2021 at 1:13 PM ^
Wasnt Drevno always the OC? Jedd Fisch was Passing game coordinator in 2015-16 and Pep replaced him in 2017. Then there was no official OC in 2018 after Drevno was fired. I don't know, I cant keep track of it anymore.
August 31st, 2021 at 8:32 PM ^
Supposedly he was the official OC from 2015 to 2017 but I remember it being more like run game coordinator with someone else handling passing game duties and Harbaugh being the final decider.
2015: Jedd as passing game coordinator
2016: same
2017: I believe this was the first year with Drevno as a full blown OC with Pep coaching QB's and Greg Frey being run game coordinator
2018: No official OC but it was essentially Pep as OC/pass game coordinator and Warinner as run game coordinator
I believe Gattis was the first out-and-out OC with total control which is why it was such a big deal that we hired him
August 31st, 2021 at 10:58 AM ^
Interesting. Seems like he played for NDSU 2017-2020, graduated, and still has a 5th year available. I wonder if South Carolina (with a clearly thin QB room) intentionally brought him in as a GA knowing he could also be a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency QB
August 31st, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
It's possible. It's a rather odd transition from Fargo to Columbia otherwise.
August 31st, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
I think he's from Georgia originally so it's not too far-fetched to want to get closer to home
August 31st, 2021 at 2:09 PM ^
Was actually on Iowa states roster 2017-2019. Transferred to NDSU. Played a little in 2020. He’s listed as being the backup to NDSU freshman qb as recent as 4/2021. Doesn’t look like he’s thrown a pass in awhile though.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
Too bad the HBC isn’t coaching still
August 31st, 2021 at 11:28 AM ^
Charles Woodson still has a year of eligibility left... I bet he could still cover college WRs at age 44
August 31st, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
Hmm....
August 31st, 2021 at 4:49 PM ^
Last time I looked (a few years back) there is also a time limit clock that starts when you attend your first class.
Those people that come back at age 25 or 38 (Marines) never set foot in a classroom. There are extensions for injuries and maybe religious missions or study abroad. Does the NFL qualify for an waiver? It would if this was for an SEC QB.
August 31st, 2021 at 11:50 AM ^
This has the feel of Michigan starting its towel boy at wide receiver in The Water Boy.