Why Can Taylor Bennett Play but Ryan Mallett Can't? - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

This offseason, two quarterbacks found themselves sca-roohed by coaching changes: Michigan's Ryan Mallett and Georgia Tech's Taylor Bennett. Both are square-peg pocket passing battleship types virtually guaranteed starting jobs until a QB-run-mad head coach came in with a bunch of round holes; both said "screw you guys, I'm going home."

But while Mallett has to sit out at Arkansas next year, Bennett has been given the go-ahead to play this fall for Louisiana Tech. Why? How? What? Well, remember that one year the NCAA allowed anyone who'd picked up an undergraduate degree to transfer without penalty?

Yeah, that rule was repealed after coaches complained, but by "repealed" we mean "not repealed." The above-linked article on Bennett:

[Myles] Brand and the NCAA created a workaround. The waiver process Bennett used to be able to play at Louisiana Tech has been used successfully by about 30 Division I athletes since July 1, 2007, NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson told me. That's actually more than took advantage of the graduate student transfer rule in the one year for which it applied.

"For any individual who has legitimate academic reasons to transfer after graduating, we will grant it," Brand said.

Mike Knobler, the author, takes a properly skeptical tone about "legitimate academic reasons," saying there is some "fiction at work here," but is generally approving of the move. And you know what? He's right.

I think the NCAA got this one right, too. Bennett should be able to play out his final year of eligibility. Without the waiver his football career ends on the sideline, watching some freshman get blown up on a triple option. Mallett, on the other hand, doesn't even lose a year since he played as a freshman. He's got an enforced redshirt, then has three more years, just like he would have had at Michigan.

The transfer process works for players who move early in their career, but a sudden change when you're a junior or senior is terribly damaging. And sometimes it can give you hope for a career where there was none. One of those 30 athletes that have gotten waivered through was Michigan safety Ryan Mundy, who no one around the Michigan program was exactly sad to see leave. He jetted to West Virginia for a year, got Barwisized, played well, and was drafted in the sixth round. Without the waiver he would have been cut and likely out of football.

The key distinction between the new NCAA process and the new, player-friendly one:

Don't want your star cornerback transferring to Florida for no particular reason? Say so. Have no problem with a quarterback who doesn't fit your system finding a place to play? Say so. Everyone wins.