Mike Slive will be back for another year in the SEC. (Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports)
Mike Slive announced last week that he was coming back for another season as SEC Commissioner. The 73-year-old Slive could stay several more seasons. He’s arguably the most powerful figure in college sports. Slive will have quite a legacy when he finally retires after raising the conference to levels beyond what former commissioner Roy Kramer accomplished.
Slive likely wants to stay around for the implementation of the SEC Television Network and the new College Football Playoff. Both will be successes largely due to Slive’s influence.
Slive deserves credit for being a visionary which is also one of the strengths of Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott. Slive has a tendency for looking a decade or two in the future when he makes decisions for the conference. Don’t be surprised if Slive has a contingency plan for even further expansion for the SEC. He made good choices with the additions of Texas A&M and Missouri.
Here’s hoping Slive stays as long as his health allows. The SEC will continue to be the best conference in the nation with Slive at the helm.
EARLY SIGNING PERIOD: After years of discussion, we might finally be closer to an early signing period for high school senior football players. Discussions have centered on having a period of time- months or at least weeks- in addition to National Signing Day which is the first Wednesday of February. This is not just media or coaches, but NCAA officials have suggested that the time had come to implement an early signing period similar to basketball that has two different signing periods. One possible early signing period could be in early August before high school and college players get involved in two-a-days. Another possible signing period would begin in mid-December, but this might be too close to February’s NSD. Coaches have complained for years about babysitting recruits who have already made up their minds months in advance of NSD. This could be an opportunity for some schools to put as much as half of their recruiting class to bed way before the traditional NSD.
NINE- GAME SEC SCHEDULE: A nine-game SEC conference schedule could be coming eventually. It makes sense and would solve some problems for the league such as strength of schedule required by the new playoff committee. This would mean SEC athletic directors would have to quit scheduling four creampuff non-conference games that fans are becoming fatigued over. What Gator fan would not prefer Florida playing Texas A&M as opposed to Florida hosting Idaho State. My concern is would a nine game SEC schedule give coaches and athletic directors an excuse not to find a neutral site game with a worthy opponent?
Last year, coaches voted 13-1 not to implement a nine-game league slate. The lone vote for the additional conference game was Alabama’s Nick Saban, who has argued that he would like to see players have an opportunity to play every team in the SEC before running out of eligibility. Also remember that this is a decision that could eventually be decided by the SEC presidents and chancellors who might disagree with their coaches. Another factor in play for adding a ninth conference game is additional inventory needed by the SEC television network that begins in August. The schedules for 2016 and beyond will be discussed in the May SEC meetings in Destin, Florida. The current eight-game SEC slate runs through 2015.
