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Oversigning (also spelled Over-signing) is a process in which American college athletics teams award to recruits a number of scholarships that, when added to the number of scholarships given to current members of the team expected to play in the next season, is greater than the maximum number of scholarships permitted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). While occasionally occurring in other sports, oversigning occurs most often, and has thus received the most attention from media members and fans, within college football, where the maximum number of athletic scholarships permitted in a season is 85.[1][2][3]

While currently permitted within NCAA rules, many college football fans view oversigning as unethical, arguing that it requires schools and coaches to be dishonest with young adult and adolescent recruits.[3]

Atlantic Coast Conference

Florida State

After National Signing Day in 2011, Florida State University was oversigned by several players.[4] During his Signing Day press conference, head coach Jimbo Fisher said he expected several recruits to not be academically qualified to play in 2011 though Fisher did not give the specific number by which he had oversigned.[4]

Miami

In a December 2010 feature on oversigning, ESPN's Outside the Lines profiled former University of Miami defensive lineman, Stephen Wesley, who was told - in July 2010, just weeks before his senior season was to begin - that his scholarship would not be renewed.[5] Miami and then-head coach Randy Shannon did not give an explanation for Wesley's dismissal from the team, but many believed (as Outside the Lines noted) Wesley was cut from the team to make room for Seantrel Henderson, who announced he would attend Miami just weeks before Wesley's dismissal.[6]

Southeastern Conference

Several universities within the Southeastern Conference (SEC) have frequently been accused of oversigning.[7][8] Florida, Georgia[9], and Vanderbilt are usually noted as exceptions within the SEC due to their having signed the fewest total recruits among SEC teams over the past decade.[10] Georgia head coach Mark Richt has condemned the process, saying "I don't want to oversign, then tell one of the kids we've already got, 'You've got no value to us' and toss him aside. I'm not going to do that."[1]

On February 1, 2011, Sports Illustrated published a letter from the president of the University of Florida, Bernie Machen, in which Machen condemned oversigning-related practices - including grayshirting and the excessive use of medical disqualifications - as "morally reprehensible" and "repugnant."[11]

Houston Nutt Rule

In May 2009, the SEC passed a rule restricting its football teams to a maximum of 28 new scholarship players each year.[12] This move was widely viewed as a direct response to the University of Mississippi and its head coach, Houston Nutt, having promised 37 scholarships to new recruits for the 2009 season. Thus the rule is now commonly referred to as "The Houston Nutt Rule."[8][13]

Alabama and Nick Saban

2008-2010

In 2010, two Wall Street Journal reports suggested the University of Alabama and its head coach, Nick Saban, had engaged in dishonest and unethical behavior largely related to oversigning. On September 24, the Journal reported that several Alabama players had been pressured into requesting medical scholarships (not counted against the athletic scholarship limit) despite being healthy enough to play and wanting to remain on the team.[14] A couple months later, on November 25, 2010, the Journal reported that several former Alabama players claim Saban and Alabama lied about their reasons for leaving the school.[2] Upon removing the players from the Alabama team in early August 2009, just days before the NCAA-mandated scholarship deadline, Saban told members of the press that the players had "violated some type of team rule or policy."[15] The players told the Wall Street Journal they committed no such violations and that Alabama and Saban had only claimed as much so as to protect the image of their program in the eyes of future recruits. Saban was also questioned, in April 2008, about how he manages to be under the scholarship limit each year despite the appearance of oversigning, to which he agitatedly responded, "It's none of your business. Aiight? And don't give me this stuff about the fans' need to know, because they don't need to know. Don't even ask. Aiight?"[16]

LSU and Les Miles

In 2010, Louisiana State University and head coach, Les Miles, were also the subjects of numerous oversigning allegations.[3][17] In August, with his program at the scholarship limit for the year, Miles asked two recruits, Elliot Porter and Cameron Fordham, to wait until January 2011 to receive their previously promised scholarships. (This practice is known as "grayshirting.") Fordham chose to stay with the team, but Porter decided to leave the school. A third player, Houston Bates, had previously been asked to grayshirt and decided not to attend LSU, instead signing with Illinois.[18] In December, ESPN's Outside the Lines broadcast a report in which former LSU quarterback, Chris Garrett, claimed LSU and Les Miles lied about the circumstances surrounding the school's decision not to renew Garrett's scholarship and Garrett's subsequent departure from LSU.[5]


References

  1. ^ a b Staples, Andy (February 25, 2009). "Coaches Play the Curious Game of Oversigning in College Football". CNNSI.com.
  2. ^ a b Karp, Hannah (November 25, 2010). "Former Players Say Saban Twisted the Truth". The Wall Street Journal.
  3. ^ a b c Doyel, Gregg (August 8, 2010). "Bad Guys Utilize Over-signing, and it Has to Stop". CBS Sports.
  4. ^ a b Andrew Carter (February 4, 2011). "Florida State Doesn't Plan to Greyshirt Any Incoming Recruits". The Orlando Sentinel.
  5. ^ a b ""Over the Limit"". ESPN, Outside the Lines. December 19, 2010.
  6. ^ Thayer Evans (July 9, 2010). "Top Recruit Goes to Miami After Release From U.S.C." New York Times.
  7. ^ Low, Chris (May 24, 2010). "SEC Leads the Way in Oversigning Players". ESPN.
  8. ^ a b Low, Chris (February 9, 2010). "Exceeding 25 Signees the Rule in the SEC". ESPN.
  9. ^ "Georgia and Alabama". October 7, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "Recruiting Numbers". Retrieved December 5, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |site= ignored (help)
  11. ^ Bernie Machen (February 1, 2011). "Florida President: Grayshirting is Morally Reprehensible Practice". Sports Illustrated.
  12. ^ Staples, Andy (May 29, 2009). "New SEC Ban Means Oversigning is Nearing its End Nationwide". CNNSI.com.
  13. ^ Solomon, Jon (February 3, 2010). "SEC Teams Adjust to 'Houston Nutt Rule'". The Birmingham News.
  14. ^ "Alabama's Unhappy Castoffs". Wall Street Journal. September 24, 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)
  15. ^ Estes, Gentry (August 5, 2009). "Nick Saban Opens Camp by Finally Clearing up Alabama's Roster Attrition". Press-Register.
  16. ^ Rapoport, Ian (April 15, 2008). "Saban vs. Rapoport: The Numbers Game". The Birmingham News.
  17. ^ Staples, Andy (August 5, 2010). "NCAA needs to sort out priorities, focus on the big picture". CNNSI.com.
  18. ^ Trahan, Ken (April 15, 2010). "St. Paul's DE Bates signs with Illinois". NewOrleans.com.
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