The final word on letters of intent

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the need for changes in the National Letter of Intent, the scholarship agreement that binds recruits to colleges and vice versa.

My point, boiled down to a sentence, was that coaches have far more mobility than ever before and are sometimes the most important part of a recruit’s decision, and in the case of a coaching change recruits should have the freedom to change their minds.

I noted in the column that the National Letter of Intent program is administered by the NCAA on behalf of the Collegiate Commissioners Association, a mysterious body that has no website but consists of the commissioners of the 31 Division I conferences.

Missing was any comment from the only member of the CCA I know, ACC commissioner John Swofford, who was on vacation. Swofford is back in the office, and through a spokesperson, responded to the questions I raised.

“This is a topic that has come up periodically but has not gained legs,” Swofford said. “In the end, most people’s view continues to be that a recruit signs with an institution, not a coach and if there are no extenuating circumstances then the NLI stands and will stay intact unless that institution decides to accept the release request.”

There are coaches who share that official position and those who feel it’s time to create a little more leeway for players put in difficult positions. As things stand now, even if the school fires a coaching staff, the player has to sit out a season and lose an entire year of eligibility to go somewhere else.

I still think that’s an archaic way of looking at things given the state of modern college athletics and the high salaries paid to coaches who are hired and fired with increasing frequency. Hopefully, Swofford and the other members of the CCA will take the issue up again in the future and come to a different conclusion.