Saban Gets Around Rule Made to Reign Him In - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

The problem with creating rules to try to force all college football coaches to be lazy recruiters, is that some of them just won't. When the NCAA tried to "fix" the so-called "bump" rule, they did in in a way that makes sense only to those who value, for example, duck hunting over college recruiting. Instead of allowing coaches to evaluate players during the "Spring Evaluation Period", they have to sit back on their campuses and wait for someone else to tell them how great some player is.

FanHouse's own Brian Cook described the rule this way:

It looks like the NCAA is moving to lessen the impact of the "bump" rule and provide a level playing field for coaches from enthusiastic frequent NCAA violators to guys who can't be bothered to get out of bed in March

Of course, the new NCAA rule "leveled the playing field" by catering to the laziest common denominator. It's about like making the no-huddle offense illegal because some teams don't have the personnel to run it. Or canceling a playground kickball game because you don't want to hurt the feelings of the kid who gets picked last. What most will be unsurprised to learn is that artificially induced slothfulness doesn't work.

Not to be hamstrung by some new recruiting rule, Saban found a loophole: video conferencing.

Like a lot of college coaches - including those from Auburn, Michigan, Oklahoma and Notre Dame - Saban is recruiting Athens High School defensive end William Ming. But Saban found a creative way to make contact the other day.

Alabama assistant coach Curt Cignetti visited Athens High, which has a Distance Learning Lab that allows Athens students to take online classes by using a live webcam.

Cignetti left behind a web address that Ming used to log on later that day and spend 15-20 minutes talking, through the webcam, with Saban, who was in his office in Tuscaloosa.

This is where Auburn fans and other Saban detractors are likely to be either furious or delighted. Furious over his blatant disregard for the rules, or delighted that this might be the time he finally slips up and gets caught being the big dirty cheater that "everyone" knows he is. Scarbinsky's article goes on to burst some bubbles, however, noting that e-Saban is completely legal:

A coaching staff can make one phone call to a junior prospect during the spring evaluation period, but a prospect can make unlimited calls to a staff. So it is possible and permissible for a coach to go face-to-face with a prospect miles and miles away.

The moral of the story, children, is that you're not going to out-recruit coaches like Pete Carroll or Nick Saban by putting roadblocks in their way. You're actually going to have to get out of the duck blinds and go get some work done.

(Hat tip: Capstone Report)