SEC just petitioned the NCAA to block our practices in Florida!
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SEC Reportedly Looks to Block Michigan from Holding Spring Practice in Florida
By Tyler Conway , Featured Columnist Feb 9, 2016
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John Raoux/Associated Press
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday the conference has petitioned the NCAA to block Michigan from holding spring practices in Florida.
“Our primary reaction [is] that, in the face of the time-demand conversations, we've got one program taking what has been 'free time' away,” Sankey said, per Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com. “Let's draw a line and say, ‘That's not appropriate.'"
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh announced last week he plans for the Wolverines to practice at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, from Feb. 27 to March 6.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...higan-from-holding-spring-practice-in-florida
By Tyler Conway , Featured Columnist Feb 9, 2016
Next ARTICLE »
Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse more stories
John Raoux/Associated Press
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said Tuesday the conference has petitioned the NCAA to block Michigan from holding spring practices in Florida.
“Our primary reaction [is] that, in the face of the time-demand conversations, we've got one program taking what has been 'free time' away,” Sankey said, per Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com. “Let's draw a line and say, ‘That's not appropriate.'"
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh announced last week he plans for the Wolverines to practice at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, from Feb. 27 to March 6.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...higan-from-holding-spring-practice-in-florida
Sankey is concerned about taking away Michigan players' spring break time. OK. 
Sankey ought to just be forthright. He's concerned because this is U-M looking for a back-door way to get more visibility with IMG players and coaches. That's the real motivation (from BOTH Harbaugh's side and the SEC side).
Anyway, this will be fine for spring 2016. Any banning wouldn't occur until spring 2017.
Sankey ought to just be forthright. He's concerned because this is U-M looking for a back-door way to get more visibility with IMG players and coaches. That's the real motivation (from BOTH Harbaugh's side and the SEC side).
Anyway, this will be fine for spring 2016. Any banning wouldn't occur until spring 2017.
Sankey is concerned about taking away Michigan players' spring break time. OK.
Sankey ought to just be forthright. He's concerned because this is U-M looking for a back-door way to get more visibility with IMG players and coaches. That's the real motivation (from BOTH Harbaugh's side and the SEC side).
Anyway, this will be fine for spring 2016. Any banning wouldn't occur until spring 2017.
I think the SEC just stepped into The Jack Hammers steel trap ... and nicely opened a can of worms they sure didn't want to. Trojan Horse like .... knock knock NCAA....
This is my favorite paragraphSankey is concerned about taking away Michigan players' spring break time. OK.
Sankey ought to just be forthright. He's concerned because this is U-M looking for a back-door way to get more visibility with IMG players and coaches. That's the real motivation (from BOTH Harbaugh's side and the SEC side).
Anyway, this will be fine for spring 2016. Any banning wouldn't occur until spring 2017.
“The net of that is to say the Southeastern Conference is not going to be outpaced in recruiting,” Sankey said. “If the national approach is that we want to have more aggressive summer camps and coaches touring around all summer, then we will not only engage in that behavior, we will certainly engage in that behavior more actively -- probably more effectively than others.”
For those following along, Sankey is complaining that Michigan is outpacing the SEC in recruiting while claiming that the SEC will NOT be outpaced in recruiting. So his solution to not be outpaced? Ban any practices that outpace what the SEC does (except that paying players thing...)
The SEC commissioner is only concerned about the well being of the young men. It's all about the kids.
I say that if the SEC teams want to come north and have spring practice during spring break, have at it. After all turn about is fair play.
What a freaking joke. SEC people need to realize how ridiculous they look. They are handing out bags of cash to guys like Cam Newton but Michigan can't have a camp in the south? Unbelievable.
BTW, no one is outpacing the SEC in recruiting, they gobbled up the majority of the top players in the country again. Harbaugh is trying to level the field for his team.
What really p me o is that we don't have one word of support from Delany of his crowd. The sec commissioner is loud and active and Delany is, well Delany.
Hey, give JD a break, he's busy working out conference expansion into Maine then on to Massachusetts. All of your East Coast M are belong to us.
It's funny. Here, folks are saying because Delaney is silent it must mean he doesn't support us. Go on to Tinfoil Central and they say Delaney's silence means he is in our corner.
Delaney can eat a bag of dicks. Either he supports it or doesn't - grow a pair, Nancy and speak. Either way.
Jim Delany did speak. He told CBS Sports late last week that he has "no reaction."
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...s-harbaugh-defends-michigan-spring-break-trip
Part of Delany's issue may be some 2014 comments where he himself talked about how the 20-hour-rule was a misnomer and in need of reform:
http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsport...-in-jim-harbaugh-vs-greg-sankey-war-of-words/
I don't know why some U-M fans think Delany must defend U-M/Harbaugh as regards this situation. That's simply not Delany's job. He represents 14 schools, not 1.
Hackett, IMO, is the one who should be speaking a lot more loudly (has he been talking? he does seem silent?).
This makes no sense. This would only make sense if two B1G schools were at odds and we were mad at him for not taking our side. This is clearly a time where the commish should be in the same corner as a team in his conference, as other conference commissioners are in their teams' corners. The other 13 schools do not need support on this issue, he's not picking sides within the Big Ten, he'd be supporting a LEGAL choice made by his school over the whining and crying from other conferences. So this actually IS Delany's job, supporting a school in his conference who is doing something legally. Leaving Michigan out on a limb makes everyone look bad, IMO.
Two things:
(1) Is anybody out there arguing that this practice is CURRENTLY illegal? I don't think I've heard that. If anyone is arguing that, they are clearly wrong.
If Sankey or another school had come out and said something like: "Michigan is cheating, breaking NCAA rules, stop them!" ..... then we have a reason for Delany to get involved. He hasn't said that.
(2) the practice IS going to occur. 100% guarantee that it occurs. It's not like the SEC (or anybody else) can (or ever were able to) pass legislation now to stop that.
Given that there is a 100% guarantee that it occurs, why does U-M need any back-up?
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The discussion at this point is 100% about political maneuvering for 2017 and beyond, and legislation that will likely be introduced at the NCAA meetings in April.
Delany is, first and foremost, a politician. He is positioning him and the B1G for the next debate --- not the debate on the 2016 IMG practice. That latter debate, there is no debate. The practice is occurring and it's not worth Delany expending one iota of political capital on.
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No, my point is if the SEC and ACC commissioners come out and complain about something Michigan is doing that is legal, then Delany should defend what his school is doing, regardless. If it were up to them, they'd try to change the rule before Michigan goes this year, in fact the Sankey asked for an expedited hearing on it, or at the least said he wanted it to be discussed "in a timely manner" knowing that the oversight committee was about to meet.
Fair enough. If Sankey's "expedited hearing" had more than a 0.00000% chance of occurring: sure, but that was an absolute non-starter from the get-go. You simply can't change the rules on an "ex post facto" basis as Sankey was trying to do.
I do think Delany's 2014 comments on the 20-hours (and he only said those because it must have been a fairly widely-held opinion in the conference as a whole) put him in a bit of an awkward position as regards the 2017 & beyond debate.
It is what it is. Some sort of legislation is likely inevitable. I can see us heading to a compromise though. Something like: "schools can hold an off-campus football practice during an institution's spring break once every four years." That would be similar to the basketball foreign tours that occur during the summer. You can't hold them annually, you can hold them once every 4 years (~ once during each student's time on campus).
Yeah, I think it was a carefully crafted reasoning given by the SEC commish, knowing that Delany has made those comments in the past, but at the same time, practicing over a break means that the spring practices interfere with their classes less, and it also will end up giving them 19 days between spring practice and final exams. Not only that, they're only dedicating 20 hours to football while down in Florida, so it's not like we're getting extra practice time out of this, we're just doing it in a different location. So, there are plenty of ways to avoid your previous comments while still supporting Michigan.
Harbaugh is going to require his own chapter in the rule book. With the camp tour last year, spring practice this year, he's going to think of another loophole next year and exploit it. Then another one the year after, and so on.
