The NCAA's High Horse

For once, don't blame Facebook. The Orlando Sentinel reported today that the University of Florida football program faces secondary sanctions because coaches posted messages on a recruit's Facebook wall. According to Orlando Sentinel, Facebook walls are considered "open forums" in which coaches cannot send messages to their prospective recruits. If, however, the coach wanted to send a private message via Facebook, this would be permitted because it's similar enough to the private nature of an email.

In an attempt to defend the policy, the NCAA's associate director of communications, Cameron Schuh, claimed that "NCAA member institutions maintain concern over the level of intrusiveness the recruiting process can create for a high school student who is a prospective student-athlete."

Reducing the level of intrusiveness? Really? Can NCAA officials really say that is something they are really concerned about? I'm sorry, is this the same NCAA that has and continues to increase the number of bowl games almost every season? Didn't they also just increase the number of teams and games in the NCAA basketball tournament? The NCAA isn't really concerned about the instrusiveness that bowl games and NCCA tournament games have on student-athletes' education when they are bringing in sweet cash.

Lastly, if private communications between coach and prospective athlete are permitted, then why is text messaging banned? That's a private form of communication. The NCAA just arbitrarily makes disciplinary decisions and pretends to care about their "student-athletes." I'm guessing they believe that if they crack down on minor improprieties it helps prop up their image as an organization that promotes higher education and intercollegiate athletes. If you believe that though, you also probably think the horse in the picture is real. Also, best of luck to the NCAA if they want to try to keep up with the privacy policies of most social networking sites. It'll be tons of fun to adjust their rules against the rapidly changing nature of social networking.

Replacing Tim Tebow

Now that Tim Tebow will be suiting up in a Denver Broncos uniform, the obvious question at Florida is, "How will John Brantley fare as UF's new starting QB?" I think the biggest concern moving forward for Florida will be how John Brantley handles the obvious physical risks in Urban Meyer's spread offense. CBS analyst Gary Danielson accurately noted that Brantley can't afford to take the same physical beating that Tebow withstood during his college career. One theory that I've heard thrown around is that UF will employ one of their two freshmen in a two-quarterback system to help keep Brantley healthy.

If anyone can pull this off, it's Urban Meyer. Meyer was successful in using this system to win the 2006 National Title while employing both then-senior QB Chris Leak and then-freshman QB Tim Tebow. Overall, though, I don't think rotating QBs will work for UF this season. I'm a believer in the saying "if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks." The dual-QB system worked for Meyer in 2006 because Chris Leak was an experienced senior who was well complimented by a once-in-a-generation player in Tebow. The best strategy for Brantley, in my opinion, is for Meyer to rely on UF's talented offensive line to protect their new QB.