So let me get this straight: Terry Grant and Travis Sikes were on Alabama's roster for four years. Both players have graduated. Neither player will get a fifth year with the Tide, with Grant's decision based at least in part on injury issues. And this is evidence of the evils of oversigning? How exactly have Grant and Sikes been harmed? It's a crime that they were deprived of the right to be practice fodder for a fifth season? I can say with certainty that Lloyd Carr, who is held up as a model of propriety, made the same decisions with players who had been in the Michigan program for four years and had not made an impact on the field.
Hell, the fact that Grant and Sikes were on the roster for four years is evidence that Nick Saban does not simply cut players to make way for more talented replacements. At this time last year, Alabama was in the same spot that they currently occupy, namely faced with the prospect of more than 85 scholarship players when the freshmen arrive in August. Grant and Sikes were both on the roster at that time, headed into their fourth years in the program and having never made an impression on the field. If Saban were a ruthless dictator looking to make roster decisions himself (as opposed to letting grades and poorly executed cocaine operations do the work for him), then he surely would have cut Sikes first and then Grant. He didn't.
3 comments:
Your "poorly executed cocaine operation" quote had my sides splitting. Thanks for the reminder of that gem from last year!
Michael, you are forgetting about the APR aspect of the equation; the only way Grant and Sikes could be cut last year without penalty would have been for them to transfer, which would have meant they would have had to sit out a year. Chances are they were probably approached last year about it, both probably said that they wouldn't transfer, and therefore, Saban had to either leave them on the roster or cut them and take the APR penalty.
There is no way he is going to take the APR penalty. Now that both have graduated and APR is not an issue they have both been kicked to the curb, despite having a year of eligibilty left.
Here's the interesting part, why didn't these guys announce that they were not returning right after the season? Why wait until after signing day? Why does Saban get an extra evaluation period to determine who stays and who goes?
Anon, you've just illustrated why a lot of the criticism of oversigning is excessive: the APR acts as a check on cutting players left and right.
I fail to see what benefit Saban gained from Grant and Sikes leaving the team after Signing Day. If anything, doesn't it make sense for the depth chart to look emptier when he is in his final recruiting push?
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