Any thoughts on how all these new rules can help Bama?
1. Dilution of Signing Day. The February signing date lost some luster with the implementation of a December signing period. This can be good and bad. If this were in place years ago, TJ Yeldon plays at Auburn. So does Reuben Foster, that Kunjaoo kid, Brent Calloway...... Ah, who am I fooling. The bullshit tactics employed to change all of them would have just occurred earlier.
2. Another on-field assistant. Eh. I don't care. Alabama started cheating this rule a long time ago with the analysts in the booth, spotters, scouts and hangers on. Nearly 100 members of the football staff now.
3. If a player becomes too ill or injured to play he doesn't count against signing limit. This one is ripe for Bama manipulation. Instead of blue, gray and pink shirting players they just deem them to be "injured" and sign even more. Lets the kid stay on scholarship, participate with the team just by feigning injury or illness. Watch for the number of "injured" recruits to spike dramatically at UAcheaT.
4. Changing official visit rules to allow recruits to take them during the spring of their junior seasons. Another meh for me. The "official" visit has become anachronistic, really, given the fact that there are now all these "unofficial" visits bought and paid for by handlers, uncles, family friends, peaches, etc. This is already abused and adding this condition isn't going to change things much.
5. No more satellite camps. Saban whined because Harbaugh did it. The NCAA did away with them.
6. Programs can now use summer camps to recruit. Of course. Because they weren't used for recruiting before. Just gives a shadow of legality to what has been going on all along.
7. No hiring high school coaches! Gus opposes this. Of course he does. His path to a multi million dollar career began with the Springdale Five. Malzahn had five recruits Arkansas wanted. All were likely headed to other schools because Nutt really had nothing to offer. Vowing to "protect what's ours" Nutt hired Malzahn and four of the five followed with commitments to Arkansas: Mitch Mustain, Damian Williams, Ben Cleveland and Andrew Norman. Cleveland said "we had all committed elsewhere, but we trusted Malzahn and he said he would take care of us..." After a promising 10-1 start and a SEC West title, it flamed out. Gus left and three of the four transferred. Only Williams played in the NFL. The thing is that this rule wouldn't have impacted Gus. You can hire high school coaches to on-field positions, just not to those shady "analyst" positions that are nothing but payoffs. Saban opposes this rule because half of his unofficial staff consists of coaches hired to get their players.