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Opelika Harrold
Auburn AD Proposes Pro Style Draft for SEC
Nat Fahreal
Staff writer
June 12, 2013, Opelika, AL. In a statement to local reporters made today, Auburn University athletic director, Jay Jacobs, raised the possibility of introducing a pro-style draft to the SEC. Jacobs noted that in the current system of independent recruitment, the most successful programs attract the most talented prospects. This, he said, “creates greater and greater separation between the most and least successful teams”. According to Jacobs, this “will eventually hurt the power rankings of the most successful teams, dropping them out of contention for a BCS bowl birth, and at the same time doom the lower ranked teams to perennial losing seasons”. “To ensure the health of our league” he said, “we must find a way to achieve balance and parity”.
When asked about how such a plan would work at the college level, Jacobs outlined a tentative plan. In his proposal, teams would continue to recruit as they are currently. However, “athletes would sign letters of intent to play in the SEC instead of a particular school”, he said. “Shortly after the February signing day a meeting would be held in Destin at which teams like our program and Vandy and Kentucky and Tennessee would get first dibs on the players we need to round out our squads”. When asked what would happen if a player did not wish to play at the school by which he was chosen, Jacobs appeared confused. “These are all great schools, and we could pay them more to come to schools that may not have been their first choice”, he said, and added that the players who ended up at programs like Alabama and LSU might be disappointed at first, but that weekly national TV appearances, Sports Illustrated cover photos, and national championships would probably “take the edge off”.
Our staff contacted several other programs for comment but were unsuccessful. However, in a statement released by the Alabama athletic department, the Jacobs plan was described as both different and interesting.