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Hey everyone.

Auburn’s AD for NCAA compliance, Rich McGlynn, held a presentation this afternoon for professors, staff and basically anyone else who wandered in about how Prospective Student-Athletes (often called “PSAs” by those in the know) gain and retain eligibility. It’s more interesting than it sounds. Really.

I’ll just run down the things I learned today. Maybe you can learn a little as well.

• The Clearinghouse is gone. Has been gone. It actually was a third-party vendor hired by the NCAA to handle requests for initial eligibility. It was located in Iowa. The NCAA decided a few years ago to bring that enterprise in-house (ie Indianapolis) and the operation was renamed the “NCAA Eligibility Center.” The NCAA always has made its own rulings when it comes to amateurism, but allowed the Clearinghouse to handle the academic side of things. Now the NCAA handles all that internally.

• The Core Issue. As it stands right now, almost all PSAs must complete 16 core courses during their high-school career before being considered for NCAA eligibility. That includes:

• 4 years of English
• 3 years of math — Algebra I and above
• 2 years of science, which includes a lab
• 1 year of additional English
• 2 years of social studies
• 4 years of additional core courses (anything listed above or foreign language, nondoctrinal religion or philosophy)

*Note that math requirement. If you start Algebra I as a junior, you’re in a world of hurt with the NCAA because you still need two more years of higher-level math.

• Sliding scale: Students who complete those courses then must reach certain GPA-SAT-ACT thresholds. It’s a sliding scale; the higher your GPA, the lower your necessary test score to accompany it. Anyone with a GPA of 3.55 or higher needs only a 400 on the SAT or a 37 on the ACT to gain eligbility. However, a student with a 2.0 GPA can still quality if he/she scores at least 1020 on the SAT or 86 on the ACT. Those are the highs and lows of the scale.

• Now that we have that established …

• There are major changes coming for Class of 2015 players. The NCAA passed some significant legislation last year that takes effect Aug. 1, 2015. The statistical thresholds (ie the GPA-SAT-ACT continuum) will be raised slightly. Also, players will be required to have passed 10 of their 16 core courses by the end of their sixth semester of high school. For most kids, that’s the end of their junior year.

• The new standards begin with a 4.0 GPA (with an accompanying 400 SAT/37 ACT score) and end with a 2.3 GPA (with an accompanying 1080 SAT/93 ACT score)

• The idea of a partial qualifier is making a comeback. Players who find themselves caught in between the old standards and new standards will be allowed to enroll as an “academic redshirt.” They won’t be allowed to compete as freshmen, but they can receive a full year of financial aid and will be permitted practice during the first semester. They’ll have to earn the ability to practice during the second semester by hitting some academic benchmarks.

• Will academic redshirts be welcomed? Tough call. The SEC currently has a policy in place that bans all non-qualifiers and an academic redshirt, at least in the technical sense, is a non-qualifier. The SEC will address this at some point. Also, will coaches be willing to sign a player who won’t be able to compete for at least one year — assuming he/she gains full academic qualification? It could be a tough call.

• It’ll be an even tougher call, perhaps, for football coaches. The SEC has instituted a football-specific rule that caps signees at 25. A certain number of signees each season redshirt anyway, so the concept of an academic redshirt isn’t totally novel. Still, will a coach be willing to fill one of his 25 spots with a player who is guaranteed to work with the scout team as a freshman?

• This all puts more pressure on guidance counselors. With the new standards, PSAs must begin getting their academic work done early — as freshmen and sophomores. In most cases, college coaches are prohibited from making any kind of meaningful contact with PSAs until their junior seasons. By then, in some cases, it might be too late to help a PSA resuscitate his/her academic situation because 10 of those core courses must be completed by the end of their junior year. If the colleges can’t help and the guidance counselors don’t know the parameters and the PSA isn’t aware of the NCAA’s academic requirements, things quickly can move past the point of no return.

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Hey everyone.

I know many of the Hot Ones live far away from Montgomery, but some of you are lucky enough to live in Alabama’s capitol city. Gene Chizik will be in Montgomery on Monday as part of his trek across the Southeast.

Our friends from the Montgomery Auburn Club, specifically Preston Hornsby, were kind enough to send along information for the shindig.

Monday, April 30
Doors open at 5 p.m.
Alcazar Shiners Center, 555 Eastern Boulevard

Special Guests:
Chizik
Aubie & The AU Cheerleaders
Katherine Webb, Miss Alabama USA
Lewis Colbert, former All-American punter
Representatives from Tiger Rags

Admission: $25 for adults; $10 for children 10 and under

There will be a barbecue dinner and a cash bar.

Registration is open at http://montgomeryauburnclub.com/page85.html

Hey everyone.

Gene Chizik spoke on the SEC Spring Football Teleconference earlier today about football and life and things he spends time learning about, which apparently doesn’t include drama at University of Arkansas.

The most important thing Chizik discussed was the evolution of OC Scot Loeffler’s offense. As you know, he was hired from Temple after less than a year there. Prior to that, Loeffler’s biggest job had been as a QB coach.

“We have really closed the gap on our identity and what it is they we really want to do,” Chizik said. “We’re going to come up with our own package and our own identity and we’re going to try to get good at a few things. We moved forward trying to find out what we can and can’t do this spring.”

Chizik declined to compare the 2011 team to the one he’ll field this fall — the coach believes changes in personnel and chemistry make that a futile exercise — but clearly is optimistic about what is going to happen.

“They’ve really embraced the new coaches,” he said. “We have a long way to go, but I think our kids understand our future here is very bright. Everybody is very upbeat, very positive and understand there is urgency to be a better team than last season.”

ALSO OF NOTE:

• Everybody wondered (perhaps at different times) why Kiehl Frazier was playing last season. Chizik addressed that Tuesday. “It was invaluable that he got a chance to play a good bit last year – no matter what role we used him in,” he said. “A guy who can get in those games early on in his career, being out on the field, being in this environment, playing in this league and not having to do it for the first time the next year is huge.”

• Chizik loves his team’s attitude. “I feel great about this team, I love the kids,” he said. “I think they all have a great ambition to succeed, I think they all have a great ambition to lead, and there are some guys we have on our team that take football very seriously.”

• Chizik didn’t want to discuss which positions were up for grabs and which had been claimed during spring drills. “The main focus of this spring was for guys to win spots on our two-deep, and some of those positions are still up there,” he said. “It’s not clear-cut who has become the starter at certain positions.”

• Arkansas drama? What Arkansas drama? “I’ve got my hands full here at Auburn. I’m sure that they made the best decision — the decision that they thought was best for the program,” he said. “I know that John L. (Smith) has a very, very well-documented, successful background. I think his body of work probably at the different places he’s been has been very good. So I’m sure they did what they thought was in the best interest of the school. Other than that, I really haven’t had a whole lot of time to follow it.”

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Hey everyone.

It was an interesting weekend for Auburn athletics, which saw a huge high and a huge low in the span of 24 hours.

• SEC CHAMPS: The women’s golf team won the SEC title Sunday in by one stroke over the home-standing Arkansas Razorbacks. Alabama also tried to catch the Tigers — to no avail. Senior Patricia Sanz won an individual title. That’s the Tigers’ first since 2006. Auburn now has won two SEC crowns in a row and three of the last four. The Tigers will head into the NCAA regionals as a top-5 team. The NCAA championships run May 22-25 in Nashville.

• MEN ALMOST AS GOOD: The men’s team, currently ranked No. 3, finished second to No. 2 Alabama at St. Simons Island, Ga. With five holes to play on Sunday, the Tigers were only one shot behind Alabama. Those final five holes didn’t go well for Auburn; the Tide won by six strokes. The NCAA championships run May 29-June 3 in suburban Los Angeles.

• BASEBALL IN THE TANK: John Pawlowski’s team knew it would be a tall order to win games against two-time defending NCAA champion South Carolina, but they didn’t expect to be swept. Auburn actually hit well. Still, a slew of errors gave the Gamecocks far too many second chances. The Tigers have now lost eight of its last nine SEC games. Yeow. Auburn resumes league play next weekend at home against Tennessee.

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Hey everyone.

So we got a little surprise today. Both coordinators were gracious enough to spend some time talking with reporters. We learned some interesting things from Brian VanGorder, fewer from Scot Loeffler.

Let’s get at it:

• Brian VanGorder says the injured players (Nosa Eguae, Ken Carter et al.) have a lot of work ahead to move back into the depth-chart conversation. “All young players, even young NFL players, when you lose time it holds back the ascending process,” he said. “There’s no doubt that the value of spring ball that they lost out on means that they can’t be as good in the fall as they possibly could have. It’s up to them and their efforts to try to close that gap to where it doesn’t become something where they can’t contribute early or they just don’t contribute in a way that they expected to at the end of the season.”

• More from VanGorder on that issue: “They offer us depth and they’ve got to come in and compete to earn that. They’re obviously guys who have played, so there’s obviously an advantage for all of us understanding that. Right now, we have to view them as guys who give us depth.”

• VanGorder on the DL: “I feel very optimistic about that group.”

• VanGorder said he’s not expecting any addition position changes. “Overall, Auburn’s done a prety nice job here putting together respectable depth which is really, really key here in the SEC,” he said. “It’s young players but we’re in pretty good shape from that standpoint.”

• VanGorder wants hulking LBs and doesn’t see any way to shuffle his roster and make one appear. “I don’t see that in our roster right now; don’t see that body type and makeup of another player that could do that,” he said. “We’ve got to really push the guys that we have. I think they recognize that there’s concern there and that they’ve got to take a big step forward as we go into fall camp.”

• VanGorder wants to see DB Jermaine Whitehead stick at safety — for now. “He’s got background at corner, he obviously started games at nickel and now he’s learned the safety position,” he said. “I think Jermaine will have a very important role as we go into fall camp. You may see him playing all three of those positions.”

• VanGorder was impressed with what he saw from S Trent Fisher. “He brings a football player’s mentality to our defense,” he said. “He’s smart and tough, and therefore he’s got a chance. He’s got opportunity right now to think that he’s coming in here to compete to start as we go into fall camp. That’s what he earned during spring ball.”

• VanGorder offered some mixed signals on LB Kris Frost. “He still doesn’t see things,” VanGorder said. “It’s still a fast game to him I guess is the best way to put it. He’s got to be able to calm his game down. He will — it’s just a matter of when will that happen. That’s the challenge for him. He does have some good, athletic traits that should be advantageous down the road.”

• VanGorder offered some seriously high praise for DE Dee Ford. “I saw a couple clips last year — before he was injured — that he had some special traits in those areas, in those physical areas. I never anticipated the consistency of it. Even beyond the surprise of the consistency from him, I’m really pleased to have that so he can be the guy you’re constantly pointing at.”

• VanGorder admitted that his initial thought of DT Jeffrey Whitaker wasn’t wholly positive, but the rising junior gradually earned more prestige. “I didn’t anticipate that he’d perform like he did in our system,” VanGorder said. “I saw a guy who was a line-of-scrimmage player a year ago. He was able to do that effectively — penetrate and do some things that I didn’t know he could do. He was a pleasant … maybe surprise is the wrong word, but what I had in my mind and what I thought his role would be, he changed my mind in respect to that, which is a credit to him.”

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