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Pete Thamel, ESPN
DESTIN, Fla. — SEC football coaches aren’t sure what draft picks will look like under new rules that are poised to reshape college sports. Responses are not expected for months.
Collectively, coaches made it clear Tuesday at the SEC spring meetings that they want backups to be a part of college football moving forward, as the details of roster camps are worked out.
First year Texas A&M Coach Mike Elko spoke most strongly against the idea of limiting rosters to 85 scholarship players.
“I am firmly against it,” he said. “I think it’s absolutely against college football and what it stands for and what it’s about. I think it would be a major problem, especially considering the legacy of the kids at Texas A&M who will have the opportunity to play football at Texas A&M could be taken away from them.
“I think it’s something really bad for the sport.”
Georgia Coach Kirby Smart began his comments by saying he was eager to learn more about the rulebook and what it looks like before forming a final opinion on the issues. He made it clear that the mere idea of eliminating backups baffles him, mentioning that coaches like Will Muschamp and Dabo Swinney began their coaching journeys as backups.
“I don’t know anyone who would be against having extras,” he said. “At what cost is it costing us? I think it hurts high school football, and football as a whole, when kids can’t even dream (of having the opportunity to continue).”
The problems affected other coaches. Vanderbilt Coach Clark Lea is a former walk-on who now coaches at his alma mater. Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian said his son, Brady, was a Texas backup. Elko coaches at a school where the 12th man, which began with a student coming from the stands to play in a game in 1922, is part of the school’s tradition and includes multiple passing traditions.
Sarkisian noted that Texas has 35 backups and that the ability to walk resonates with “what college football is all about.”
It will take months for coaches to know what the selections might look like. And in the coming months, commissioners and athletic directors will delve into the details of how roster caps work. There appears to be time and momentum for a common-sense solution, as capping rosters with a specific number of scholarship recipients and leaving no room for replacements would clearly be met with rigorous protests.
“I hope we can find common ground on a reasonable figure,” Sargsyan said. “Again, I’m not opposed to change. Changes are going to happen. Right? But I hope we can find a reasonable number that allows us to feel like we can still operate at a high level as as coaches and for our players.”
Alabama Coach Kalen DeBoer said he has had rosters as small as 105 players and as high as 135 throughout his coaching career. A larger team works in favor of health and safety, as coaches can limit practice reps for beginners. They can also help maximize reps from depth players that contribute to development.
“A lot of variables come into play,” DeBoer said. “So it’s all about health and safety and efficiency and a successful practice that I think you want to execute every day. That’s important given the number that’s on your list.”
As the fate of the replacements emerged as one of the hot topics of the day, the coaches also made it clear that they were eager to learn more from SEC officials as the meetings unfolded. this week. Decisions on this issue may not come until the 2024 season.
“What I’ve heard is that everything I’ve heard is not trustworthy,” Lea said. “I think all of that is still to be determined, and I want to know a little bit more about all of that.”
