After weeks of discussion, the Division I Board of Directors reversed its recent ruling which banned satellite camps, the NCAA announced Thursday afternoon. Football Bowl Subdivision programs will now be allowed to hold satellite camps.
“The Board of Directors is interested in a holistic review of the football recruiting environment, and camps are a piece of that puzzle,” Board of Directors chair Harris Pastides, president of the University of South Carolina, said in a statement. “We share the Council’s interest in improving the camp environment, and we support the Council’s efforts to create a model that emphasizes the scholastic environment as an appropriate place for recruiting future student-athletes.”
On April 8, the Division I Council announced a rule effective immediately that prevented FBS coaches from conducting or working at camps or clinics away from their school. Head coaches at major college programs like Ohio State's Urban Meyer and Michigan's Jim Harbaugh were outspoken and opposed the ban, hoping the NCAA Council would revisit its ruling.
"I just hate to see it," Meyer said in response to the ban April 11. "Probably hundreds of scholarships come out of here to those young players and I know my son is getting recruited a little bit so what camps do you send them to? Not many kids can play at Ohio State so don't send them or send them but ... Now Bowling Green won't have a chance to watch him play."
Places like Ohio State and Michigan weren't the ones hurt by the ban. It was the Group of Five schools and the high school prospects who were affected most. High school coaches expressed their displeasure, as well.
"I'm not worried about the high-, high-level players, because they're going to get where they need to get," Meyer said April 11. "I'm talking about there's a big chunk of players out there that deserve to play major college football. I think they'll, I hope they'll revisit it. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, because I don't really know about it."
Meyer, and Harbaugh, got their wish.
