Nebraska blocks RB Greg Bell's transfer to Oregon St. citing Oregon St using an academic quarter system

Submitted by Bambi on October 11th, 2018 at 2:55 PM

So a weird story here (link to the article).

Greg Bell was a JUCO transfer in his first year at Nebraska. He played heavily early on this season but started getting less playing time in games 3/4. Last week, before the Wisconsin game, he was told he wasn't going to be the starter anymore (though he would still rotate heavily) and Bell decided to transfer.

Bell almost immediately announced that he would be transferring to Oregon St. That would make him the 4th Nebraska player to transfer to Oregon St. in the past 2 months (QB Tristan Gebbia, LB Avery Roberts, WR Tyjon Lindsey). This makes some sense as former Nebraska coach Mike Riley is a consultant at Oregon St. and some other former Nebraska coaches are there. Frost is claiming tampering there saying he has "no doubt" that Roberts, Gebbia and Lindsey were in touch with "coaches who were formerly here." (Though it seems he has no hard proof.)

It has now been announced that Nebraska is preventing Bell from transferring to any other B1G school, any school on the schedule until 2021, and Oregon St. While the alleged tampering has to do with this, Frost also referenced the fact that Oregon St. is on a quarter system academically and not a semester system, saying:

"Right now, with the way the transfer rule is, quarters teams are at an advantage...We couldn't get a player in — if they wanted to transfer here — right when the season started. Some of these quarters teams are still taking them. I think that's an unintended consequence of the rule they made, but it doesn't create competitive balance." 

So Frost is claiming the reason is Oregon St. has an unfair competitive balance over Nebraska due to their academic quarter's system. This claim does have some merit, as WR Tyjon Lindsey transferred last week and is already enrolled and thus sh be eligible to play next year at some point.

The weirdest part is that next Monday (Oct 15th) the NCAA's new transfer database comes into play, where players announce their intent to transfer into an NCAA database and then any school can contact those players without needing the original school's permission. Thus when Monday comes, Bell will still be able to transfer to Oregon St. 

Wolverheel

October 11th, 2018 at 7:17 PM ^

Sometimes it takes getting some backlash on this for people to realize how petty and unfair they're being. It's worth keeping in mind that literal nicest human ever John Beilein was in this position too before eventually changing his mind and allowing either Spike or Bielfeldt (I forget which one) to transfer in-conference. 

Of course he didn't make up a weird academic related excuse, but I think it's something to remember. 

Kevin13

October 11th, 2018 at 8:52 PM ^

Frost is an asshat and always has been one. Not sure if many people here remember Lawerence Phillips at Nebraska. That POS beat up his girlfriend while there and dragged her down the stairs. Frost was there but chose to hide in a closet rather then help the girl. What a pussy and now he’s trying to screw over a kid that wants to leave his program?

ldevon1

October 11th, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^

I thought coaches couldn't block transfers anymore? I think he's a little angry, but the new rules prohibit him from blocking this. I bet he can't wait for this season to end, and he's probably wishing he went to Oregon now. 

redjugador24

October 11th, 2018 at 4:59 PM ^

I may be alone on this, I get that, but I don't have a problem with him calling them out if he truly believes they are tampering.  Especially since another school recently called them out for tampering.  He admitted he was being somewhat hypocritical and he also knows Bell can still transfer to Oregon St. when the new rule goes into effect next week.  So, no harm to the kid, and he knows that or he wouldn't have temporarily "blocked" the transfer.  

For all his bravado and douchebaggery, I don't think he's wrong here to call out Oregon St.  

Leaders And Best

October 11th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^

Those kids committed to play for Mike Riley and his coaching staff at Nebraska. Not Scott Frost. It's not hard to believe that the kids that are transferring would consider a school where those coaches who recruited them are now working.

It's Oregon St. If Nebraska is worried about losing players to Oregon St., they have bigger problems than tampering. Oregon St is not within the conference or a rival, and it is one of the worst Power 5 programs in the country. C'mon man.

1VaBlue1

October 11th, 2018 at 7:32 PM ^

I don't think it matters what school is tampering - its against all reasonable rules.  I have no problem with the kids transferring there, but if Riley is involved with bringing them over, he needs to be punished (Oregon St takes that punishment).  Rules are rules - you cannot make up new ones anymore than you can not obey the ones on the books.  The players can't have cream cheese on their bagels.  Doesn't make sense, but its there, and enforceable.

Mr Miggle

October 11th, 2018 at 5:11 PM ^

I'm not a fan of Frost, but he makes a good point, maybe two. The new transfer rule does give some schools a big advantage and that wasn't intended. Losing players that you may need has to be frustrating. If they are being recruiting away, that's a big problem.

I can't call it a dick move, since blocking Bell is purely symbolic. He didn't try to block anyone else from going there.

What does it say about your program when your players are defecting to the 2nd worst power 5 team?

bronxblue

October 11th, 2018 at 8:19 PM ^

My issue would be that these guys are going to leave anyway, so at this point complaining about another destination being able to take advantage of a school's academic calendar seems irrelevant.  Hell, if a guy wants to transfer, let him; he's probably not going to be a happy camper at his current school anyway, so the sooner he's gone the better for both sides.

Also, this is a particular case where Riley went to OSU as did some of his staff; I doubt guys are independently coming to the decision to transfer to Oregon St. had they not had an existing relationship.  And considering coaches (including Frost) are big fans of driving out existing players to make way for guys who fit their system, complaining that the guys beat you to the punch isn't a good look.

Mr Miggle

October 11th, 2018 at 8:41 PM ^

I disagree with your first sentence. Is anyone sure Bell would have left if he had to sit out next season? There's no denying it's a lot more appealing to transfer if he can play next season. Which he can at Oregon State but not at most schools.

Complaining about it now makes a lot of sense to me. This is a time where the relevance of his point is most clear. If he wants the NCAA to revisit the new rule, he might as well get people talking about it as soon as he can.

bronxblue

October 11th, 2018 at 10:57 PM ^

Maybe, but he just transferred from JuCo to Nebraska and was passed on the depth chart; if he thinks he should see the field, I don't think it's crazy he'd transfer again.  Nobody is ever sure about a guy coming or going, if hasn't taken a redshirt (which I assume he hasn't) then this makes as much sense as anything.

I agree it's fine to point out the discrepancy, but it also reads as a guy who has had an exodus of guys to the former administration and is picking a fight for the sake of it.  I highly doubt Frost cares about this rule beyond how it affects him now, and my personal feeling has always been that if coaches can leave programs and immediately coach at their new place, and students can transfer without reservations, there shouldn't be a restriction on athletes.

treetown

October 11th, 2018 at 5:56 PM ^

So, if I understand the last paragraph right, Frost's action is basically symbolic because the kid can / and probably will transfer on Monday. He could have made the same point by a press release or in a press conference statement and gotten equal coverage.He may have a legitimate point that the transfer timing should be "normalized" across all D1 schools but this seems an odd way of making that point.

viewfromalbany

October 11th, 2018 at 8:03 PM ^

A tough test for any new head coach, taking over a troubled program, is to achieve with the prior staff's players until new recruits arrive.

Frost and Kelly (UCLA) are failing.  Took Sweeney several years to improve Clemson.

Reminds us all how well JH did in '15 & '16.  Last year's performance reflected dual impact of Hoke's last full year of recruiting and Harbaugh's limited time to recruit '15 enrollees.

Fortunate UM has moved past the challenge.  Nebraska and UCLA might take some time to fix.

bronxblue

October 11th, 2018 at 8:15 PM ^

The transfer rules have always been dumb, and this is just another example of it.  Luckily, the rules change in a week so this won't happen again.

TennesseeMaize

October 12th, 2018 at 6:38 AM ^

The ONLY reason any coach would worry about tampering is if he was 0-5 and never imagined how bad their start at the alma mater would be. 

Seems like a petty move since the kid will transfer next week, regardless of Frost’s attempt to block him. 

It must be so awkward around the Nebraska football program right now.