Brian: A new NCAA rule approved on Wednesday just made it a lot harder for coaches-in-waiting to recruit:
"The NCAA has approved a new rule that limits coaches-in-waiting having direct contact with recruits. Assistant coaches are allowed more contact with recruits than a head coach, and now coaches-in-waiting have been confined to the same limits as head coaches.
The NCAA made this ruling for fear that schools with coaches-in-waiting would have an upper hand in the recruiting process."
This means that coaches-in-waiting will have less contact with recruits, likely soon putting an end to the practice entirely. This places teams with a coach-in-waiting at a decided disadvantage when it comes to recruiting, as they will have one less assistant coach or coordinator to go visit recruits.
Now obviously BC doesn’t have a head coach-in-waiting, but fellow ACC Atlantic member Maryland does in James Franklin. So my question is do you like this new rule change and will this negatively affect Maryland’s future recruiting classes?
Jeff: I can't imagine it will help Maryland's recruiting classes. Maryland and other schools have set up coaches-in-waiting in part so they can have these coaches recruit players saying that they're basically the head coach. This allows them to get around all the recruiting constraints on the true head coach. Current coaches-in-waiting will not sign new contracts because of this new rule and I think this will basically put an end to the coach in waiting tags at many universities. In their place, I would imagine coaches-in-waiting will have handshake agreements behind closed doors.
Brian: It looks like Maryland and Texas are going to team up to fight this rule, as it puts both at a decided advantage when it comes to recruiting starting with next year's class. But until the rule is appealed, I agree that this will be the end of official coach-in-waiting positions in the NCAA.
In other football news, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach recently published a (ridiculously) early 2010 college football Top 25. It should come as no surprise to you that Boston College didn’t make the list. However, five ACC programs did make the list. Virginia Tech checks in at No. 5, while fellow Coastal Division opponents North Carolina (18), Miami (23) and Georgia Tech (24) also made Schlabach’s Top 25. From the Atlantic Division, FSU is the only member of our side of the conference to make the list. Florida State parlayed its strong 2010 recruiting class to a No. 17 ranking. Are you surprised at all by this list? And do you think any of the preseason hype for these programs is undeserved?
Jeff: I think the rankings of the Coastal teams are pretty much right on the mark. However, Florida State is probably the most overrated it has been in the preseason since Boston College has joined the ACC. We are used to seeing FSU ranked preseason only to ultimately fall out of the rankings and rarely finish the season in the top 25. Florida State is also not usually coming off a season where they struggled to make a bowl game and then lost that game.
Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles might have a good recruiting class this year, but in football a lot of players redshirt and the true freshman that do play are not capable of singlehandedly turning around a team. USC has stud recruiting classes every year and they are rarely successful because of true freshman. Same with Florida. I am also disappointed that BC is not on the list but I do not think that that is as big of an error as FSU being on it.
Big Finish
Brian: You’ll never guess who the second highest offensive rated player in the ACC is …
Jeff: What? Roche? Is that of this week or something?
Jeff: In The College Hockey Blog’s latest Bracketology post, BC is projected as the #1 seed in the Worcester Regional along with Colorado College, Ferris State and Yale. With that lineup, do you like the Eagles’ chances of making it back to the Frozen Four?
Brian: Absolutely. Only CC gives me a bit of pause, but staying close to home would give the Eagles a decided advantage in that regional.
Brian: Of the 11 football recruits from Massachusetts, BC landed 5 of those 11 recruits. Your thoughts?
Jeff: Where else would the go? Penn State, UConn and Syracuse are the only programs within the 5.5 hour drive people usually talk about in recruiting.
Jeff: BC might make the NCAA tournament after all. That would be the women's tournament after BC defeated #18/20 North Carolina in Chapel Hill. If the Lady Eagles continue to play well in ACC play will you be watching some of the women's games on ESPN?
Brian: If I can find them playing on TV, definitely.
Brian: Coach K is again displeased with the ACC schedule, as his team has already played 10 games but has yet to face Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Your thoughts?
Jeff: He complains about the ACC a lot since expansion. Duke to the Big Ten?
Jeff: Big weekend for BC as they have a home-and-home against Lowell. How many points you have the Eagles getting this weekend?
Brian: Four. The Eagles keep things rolling against Lowell, who will be without the services of Jeremy Dehner.
Brian: Last one, a Valentine’s Day tilt between the Eagles and Seminoles in Tallahassee. Who ya got? What’s the final score?
Jeff: I thought BC would win one of three when we headed into the Duke-Wake Forest-FSU stretch so I'm down to my last chance. 64-58. Roche, Raji, Jackson and Trapani provide most of the scoring.
Brian: Very nice. You'll get extra credit for also predicting the leading scorers only if this actually comes true on Sunday.