From NFL back to college? 'Do I like anything about it? Absolutely not.' Coaches sound off
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Another day, another controversy in college sports. The latest entry into what has already been a chaotic football offseason is unprecedented in the sport.
As state courts issue temporary restraining orders across the country, players who have been signed by NFL teams or thought to be out of eligibility are being cleared to return to play another season in college.
In some cases, agreements are already in place for players to return, such as Lane Kiffin and LSU gaining commitments from former Mississippi standouts Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris.
Power brokers and stakeholders across the college football landscape aren't accepting their new reality. The Southeastern Conference, issued a statement on Monday, Aug. 24 saying "college sports are for college athletes." The following day, reports emerged that the Big Ten will issue a rule banning NFL players from competition. The ACC and Big 12 mull similar bans.
College football coaches, too, have shared their opinions on the matter. Many have expressed disapproval at the move — and begrudging admissions that, despite their personal thoughts, they must consider what is best for their teams in the current college landscape.
Here's what college football coaches are saying about NFL players returning for a fifth year of eligibility:
Lane Kiffin, LSU
"Through (players) winning injunctions and entry into the portal, they are available to recruit. Ourselves and many places around the country are recruiting them," Kiffin said. "Because of the rulings, they are going to play for you or someone else. We made the decision to recruit them. It’s wrong to be critical of these kids. They were granted a fifth year and a judge said they were wronged."
Dan Lanning, Oregon
"I think there’s a lot of negatives that are involved around it," Lanning said. "One, once you go to the NFL, to me, you’re in the NFL. You don’t get the opportunity to come back. Two, most of us have built our rosters, and you have a limited roster limit now. So if you invited somebody back to your team, that means you’re kicking somebody else off your team to match your roster limits. I don’t think that’s fair to the players that worked all summer, all spring, and put themselves in position to be ready to work for a team to have somebody come back."
Oregon's fifth-year coach further elaborated that in the past, if players signed with agents, or went to the NFL scouting combine, or participated in minicamp, their eligibility was exhausted.
"All those things qualified as you were no longer an amateur, you’re a professional now," Lanning said. "So to let any of those players come back, fair or unfair to them, it’s unfair to the sport and I think it’s unfair to the players that are on current teams for those guys to be coming back."
Ryan Day, Ohio State
"If there are teams that have some players out there who are cut from NFL rosters that are gonna be on other teams, we have to at least consider it and look at it," Day said. "Do I like anything about it? Absolutely not, but we gotta do what’s right for Ohio State."
Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
"Overall, as a general, how that works, (Alabama athletics director) Greg Byrne's communicating with me and us about just what we can and can't do," DeBoer said. "There's a possibility out there of someone that was on our roster in the past, but right now, he wouldn't be able to come in and play. So I can't control that. I can't worry about that.
"We've just got to see how things move forward and progress. You just never know in the world we're in right now what tomorrow might look like. We'll see as we go. I know there's a lot of conference and national (people) figuring this thing out. Greg Byrne continues to update with it."
Steve Sarkisian, Texas
"We have a really good team, and focusing on our team, to me, is paramount and the most important thing right now. Anything auxiliary, outside of that, I'm not in so much of a rush to say, 'Oh let's go do that now' or 'Let's go do that now.' I like our team," Sarkisian said. "If, and or when there's something that popped up to where we could upgrade it, great. But we don't even know. Like, today, you can take 'em. Tomorrow, you can't.
"I don't know what's going to happen. And I don't even know if it's good or not. I'll be honest with you. I don't know if it's good. Because, like, for us, I know we've got a locker room full of guys, and their connectivity is so good for the last eight months. Is it worth rocking that boat by bringing somebody in that isn't familiar with our program?
"(Offensive lineman Cole Hutson) was a little different. He'd been with our program for four years, he knows (offensive coordinator Kyle Flood), he knows those guys in that room. To bring in a true outsider and to think, all of a sudden he's going to be our quarterback? I don't know how to do that. Like, I wouldn't know how to do that. And I know every situation is a little different, and maybe there's better coaches out there than us, but I just think it's a delicate situation.
"The powers that be are ultimately going to get to a final decision, and then when the final decision is made, then we're going to have some choices to make. Or maybe we will have no choices. I don't know. We'll have to find out."
Lincoln Riley, USC
Riley said whether he and his staff agree with the rulings or not, they will "always" look at it if "there's a place to have an advantage for USC."
"That is definitely something I wish wasn't happening in college football right now — not for any individual sake — just again, for maybe overall good of the game. It's a long story, right?" he said. "For us, it is something we're looking at. It's something we have looked at as some of these different judges' decisions and all this have transpired across the country. There's never going to be a stone that's not going to be uncovered, that's not going to be looked at, discussed.
"Ultimately, at the end of the day, you got to feel like that bringing somebody in is in the best interest of the team, right? Because addition doesn't always mean necessarily making you better, and we feel very strongly about the group that we've put together. We feel very strongly about just kind of the culture and attitude and vibe and togetherness of this team right now. So, first and foremost, we're going to protect that, and if at some point someone comes up that we feel like can add to the roster and add to the intangible part of this, then we would certainly look at it."
Barry Odom, Purdue
"Would I take Mani Powell back? That'd be kind of fun," Odom said of last season's starting middle linebacker, now with the Tennessee Titans. "But who am I going to walk in the locker room and say 'hey, all the work you've put in from January to today, I appreciate it, but we've got this guy, he just played the Miami Dolphins last week, and he's going to take your locker and scholarship and your game time.'"
Odom clarified he was not saying 100% no to bringing someone back. Of course, whether teams will actually have that option seems to change multiple times per week, wrote Nathan Baird of the Indianapolis Star.
"I look at the value of the game of college football, and I want to protect that," Odom said. "At some point, it ends for everybody, you know what I mean? The ability now that we're searching NFL rosters for guys that may or may not make a team, and we're gonna allow them back to play the game; it's mind-boggling to me."I want to protect college football. It's been around a long time. We're doing a lot of really great things. I don't know that this is the best for the sport of college football and opportunities that are created for young people that are of college age."
Bob Chesney, UCLA
The Bruins just added former James Madison linebacker and reigning Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Trent Hendrick, who joins after he was one of the players granted an extra season with the temporary restraining order. He was practicing with the team on Monday, Aug. 24. While he was undrafted and did participate in NFL minicamps with the Kansas Chiefs and Cleveland Browns, he did not sign an NFL contract.
Chesney said the familiarity with Hendricks played a key role in wanting him to come to UCLA.
"We're slowly moving to more of a you know AAA team for the NFL in a way, and I think that just is what it is. We had that conversation with the team, and I think they all left at the end of it, linebackers in particular, of thank you. I think that they said 'I'm sure many coaches and many programs that never would even have that conversation. The kid would just show up.' So I think it's important that we had those conversations about who he was as a player, that he's guaranteed nothing, and just like everybody on this team, whatever they're going to get, they got to work for."
Chesney said Hendricks does not impact the roster limit, and he is on track to play in the season opener against Cal.
Jon Sumrall, Florida
First-year Florida coach Jon Sumrall on Aug. 25 said he is in favor of the NCAA's five-for-five rule, but wanted more continuity as TROs are granted in state courts.
“We’ve tracked all of it,” Sumrall said. “We’re following all of it. I’m for the five-for-five; we’re getting moving forward.
“My understanding when all of that was being done was that was for moving forward after this year, really, right? What I really struggle with is the rules are changing so daily based upon a court ruling, or what happens in a court in Colorado, or a court here, a court in Louisiana, and it’s like, we need to have some continuity and some consistency across the board.”
Sumrall, who last year coached at Tulane, also said he is not opposed to adding NFL players — if it made sense for the Gators.
“Look, I added Jake Retzlaff last year on July 27, so I’m not holier than thou, acting like I’m not going to add a player,” he said. “If it’s best for Florida football for us to add a player, we’ll add a player.
He added a caveat, however, that it's not as simple as picking up a suddenly available NFL player from out of the portal.
“We have our football team here. And I’m always open to adding if we can add, but the timing of who you add, how you add them; add a guy from the NFL training camp, but he’s waiting to figure out does he get cut or does he not get cut. We’re looking at all of it. We’re following all of it. We’ve had conversations with some people, but there’s been nothing that’s felt like it could fit or make sense for us.
We’re already at our roster number right now. So if I add a player today, you know what I have to do, I have to go out there and cut one. Well, that player I add, he better be pretty damn good if I’m going to cut a guy who’s already out here. And it better make a lot of sense for the whole roster. Would we do it? I don’t know yet, but we’re not doing it as we speak right now.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: From NFL back to college? 'Do I like anything about it? Absolutely not.' Coaches sound off
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