The challenge of amending the NCAA’s transfer rules is enough to leave anybody’s head spinning.
So when NCAA officials traveled to Amelia Island this week to sit down and explain some of those issues to coaches and administrators at the ACC’s annual spring meetings, it left more than one person impressed, to say the least.
“I think if you’re on that transfer working group, they should qualify for a lifetime supply of Tylenol,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe joked with reporters Tuesday.
Kevin Lennon, the NCAA vice president of Division I governance, and Jane Miller, a member of the Division I Transfer Working Group, spent time going over the ins and outs of the legislation as well as different proposals being debated.
Most coaches and administrators left the meeting knowing there was still more work that needs to be done before a proposal can be presented to the NCAA board of directors for a vote in June.
“I don’t think there were any surprises,”
NC State athletics director Debbie Yow said. “I just think it’s an onerous topic and you can’t find the perfect answer so it comes down to which version you would prefer, but none of them are perfect.”
Clemson athletics director Dan Radakovich added, “A lot of work left to do. [We] really have to get a lot more data. And even the transfer working group, the people there acknowledged that there’s a little more of a runway that needs to happen on some of that stuff.”
Miami athletics director Blake James is no stranger to the inner workings of college governance, having spent time on the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee.
“It’s the big one that still out there. It’s the unknown, so I think anytime you have something where people don’t know what the end result is, I think there is the nervousness where it ends up,” James said. “Everyone has their position to what it should look like. I think right now we should all take a step back and let the transfer working group do their job and come forward with what they feel is best. And I’m sure that’s something that will be an improvement from where we’re at and we’ll support and move forward, whatever it is.”
Most NCAA sports adhere to one set of transfer rules, while a handful of other sports such as football, men’s and women’s basketball, ice hockey and baseball adhere to totally different set of codes.
The working group was formed in hopes of streamlining and unifying some of those regulations.
They’ve recommended several changes, including the creation of a database that would allow players to submit a notification of a desire to transfer. That would be a major change the current rules that allow schools to dictate where players can transfer to once granted release from their scholarships.
One idea considered was letting underclassmen who transfer to be immediately eligible to play at their new school rather than forcing them to sit out a season. It’s an unpopular viewpoint, especially among most ACC coaches.
“I think the kids should be able to transfer and do what they want, but they have to sit out,”
Florida State coach Willie Taggart said. “Just like every other agreement out there, there should be consequences when you break them. But they should be able to go where they want to go.”
NC State coach Dave Doeren is happy to see that the transfer group is now taking the time to examine the ramifications of some of the proposals.
“You could tell months ago when it came out, they were trying to force a big change,” Doeren said. “And now they’ve looked at all the possible negative things that could happen and put the brakes on it and said, ‘Let’s make sure we do it right rather than rush it and have to change it later,’ which I appreciate.
“This could have, if done the wrong way, hurt a very good thing, so I’m glad that they’re listening.”
Miami coach
Mark Richt says the coaches believe there will be some sort of change that takes place to the current legislation, but just how much is still up in the air.
“We don’t think it will get to the point where everyone can freely transfer without having to sit. I think the element of sitting a year will still be a part of it,” Richt said. “There are some other concessions that can be made to make it good for the student-athletes.”
As a trustee member of the board of directors of the American Football Coaches Association, Cutcliffe has familiarized himself with all of these types of issues. In fact, AFCA recently proposed its own take on possible amendments to the transfer rules, one in which players who transfer must sit out a season, but they can gain back that year of eligibility if they graduate.
