NCAA bans satellite camps for college football teams

The NCAA is cracking down on college football teams holding satellite camps.

College football teams will no longer be allowed to conduct camps and clinics away from their school’s facilities, according to a new proposal approved by the NCAA on Friday.

From the NCAA, “The Council approved a proposal applicable to the Football Bowl Subdivision that would require those schools to conduct camps and clinics at their school’s facilities or at facilities regularly used for practice or competition. Additionally, FBS coaches and noncoaching staff members with responsibilities specific to football may be employed only at their school’s camps or clinics. This rule change is effective immediately.”

This means the trip the Michigan Wolverines took to Florida to conduct a part of their spring practices on the campus of high school powerhouse IMG Academy will no longer be allowed.

The decision by Jim Harbaugh to travel to Bradenton, Florida where the high school is home to a dozen of the top recruits in the nation ruffled the feathers of the ACC and SEC commissioners and NCAA president Mark Emmert cautioned there could be some new rules banning this type of thing from happening again.

Credit Harbaugh for finding a loophole to get his foot in the door at IMG Academy and give his players a fun trip to get out of Ann Arbor in late February. The recruiting landscape is a competitive and ever-changing thing and today’s news will see it change again.

It also puts college football on the same playing field as college basketball.

It really won’t hurt teams like Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State and other elite programs who are able to recruit on a national level and this rule is a good thing to prevent advantageous teams and coaches from finding loopholes to exploit.

What do you think of the new NCAA rule banning satellite camps? Let us know in the comments section below.