Friday, April 25, 2008
Nothing gets people talking around the SEC - from football coaches to football fans - like Nick Saban and recruiting.
How many other coaches have reeled in the top signing class in the nation and had their name attached to a recruiting rule in short order?
The so-called Saban Rule prohibits head coaches from visiting high schools during the current evaluation period, which started April 15 and ends May 31. It hasn't prevented Saban from showing his face on a high school campus without setting foot on that campus.
Diabolical.
And, according to the NCAA, completely legal.
Like a lot of college coaches - including those from Auburn, Michigan, Oklahoma and Notre Dame - Saban is recruiting Athens High School defensive end William Ming. But Saban found a creative way to make contact the other day.
Alabama assistant coach Curt Cignetti visited Athens High, which has a Distance Learning Lab that allows Athens students to take online classes by using a live webcam.
Cignetti left behind a web address that Ming used to log on later that day and spend 15-20 minutes talking, through the webcam, with Saban, who was in his office in Tuscaloosa.
Athens High Coach Allen Creasy, who witnessed the conversation, called it "a first from a recruiting standpoint" for his school.
"You could see (Saban's) facial expressions and hand gestures just as if you were sitting across the desk from him," Creasy said. "It's the next-best thing to being there in person."
Alabama fans, with a sly grin creasing their faces, and Auburn fans, with steam exiting their ears, might see this move as a sign that the NCAA can't pass rules fast enough to slow down Saban.
In truth, it's proof that he actually has read the rules.
The association doesn't have to invent legislation to deal with video conferencing. It's already on the books.
In the current edition of the NCAA Division I Football Coaches Off-Campus Recruiting Guide, it states that "all electronically transmitted human voice exchange (including video conferencing and videophones) shall be considered telephone calls."
A coaching staff can make one phone call to a junior prospect during the spring evaluation period, but a prospect can make unlimited calls to a staff. So it is possible and permissible for a coach to go face-to-face with a prospect miles and miles away.
Creasy captured why it matters to prospects when college coaches take the time to look them in the eye, in person or online.
The coaches "could be talking to a lot of people," Creasy said. "It's an honor for the recruit."
Even for an honor student like Ming. Creasy said his star player, who has yet to commit to a college, "was very impressed" with the video conference. Creasy was impressed with Saban's creativity.
"This is opening another door for him," Creasy said. "If you're not looking for innovative ways to push the envelope, somebody else is. That's what keeps the top guys on top."
With high school players committing earlier and earlier, college coaches have to look them in the eye sooner.
Even if they have to use an electronic eye.
At least until the NCAA passes the next Saban Rule. -- Kevin Scarbinsky's column appears Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Write him at
kscarbinsky@bhamnews.com.
