SEC seeks limits on satellite football camps
The Southeastern Conference says it will propose a national rule to ban or limit the common practice of satellite camps. The proposal was brought up during the first day of the conference’s annual meetings Tuesday in Destin, Fla.
If the proposal is not adopted nationally, Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples reports SEC athletic directors have approved dropping the rule.
The SEC currently prohibits coaches from going to different campuses to work as a guest coach for any camp that is more than 50 miles from their current institution.
“We want it to be done nationally,” incoming SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. “But there was a lot of conversation among our football coaches that we don’t want to be on the sidelines any longer, if there’s not going to be a change more rapidly.”
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The topic has gained traction over the past year and was recently brought into the forefront when Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh announced that he was going on a nine-city coaching tour next month with stops in SEC recruiting territories such as Florida and Alabama. The Big Ten does not prevent its coaches from participating in camps away from their own schools.
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The SEC is also contemplating increasing fines for fans storming the field or basketball court after upset victories.
Currently, schools are fined $5,000 for a first offense, $25,000 for a second offense and $50,000 for all subsequent offenses.
The conference also passed a regulation requiring an independent medical observer for all conference and home non-conference football games. The medical observer will be located in the replay booth during games and has the authority to stop a game so a player can exit the field.
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“This will give us another check in the event that, on the field, a team doesn‘t see someone who may have had a head injury and needs to come off the field. Most of the time, the sideline picks up those kinds of things,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. “But, just in case they don’t, we are doing everything we can to protect the health and safety of our student athletes.”
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