Kirby Smart, UGA have plan in place if SEC satellite camp ban is lifted
If the NCAA elects not to ban satellite camps, the SEC will soon allow its coaches to take part beginning this summer.
And if so, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has a plan of action.
"We’ve got to be prepared. That’s there and it’s waiting in the brink, and it’s like who’s going to be first?" Smart said. "Who’s going to go where? Everybody’s lobbying. But we gotta be careful because we’re not going out right now and saying where we’re going. We got to wait to see if it happens. If it happens, we’ll be ready for it and we’ll have some decisions to make."
Under SEC guidelines, member schools are banned from partaking in satellite camps.
The NCAA is expected to vote on keeping satellite camps or not in April. The SEC will let its self-imposed ban expire in May if the NCAA chooses to side against the conference.
Both the ACC and SEC have made related proposals to end this practice to the NCAA.
The ACC proposed for the end of satellite camps by limiting summer recruiting camps to campus facilities or buildings programs regularly use. The SEC proposed for the end of “guest coaching,” which means college coaches could no longer attend other institutional camps to evaluate recruiting prospects.
Smart said he’d prefer to bring prospects to campus but is open to setting up shop if the NCAA decides nothing should change about the way satellite camps are operated.
"Ultimately, every SEC school wants these kids on their campus," Smart said. "I don’t want to have to go to them. But if it gives somebody a competitive advantage to go to them then we may want to do the same thing. We’ve looked into it as a staff. We have a plan ready to kick in if it happens. We’ll be prepared for it."
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh attended numerous satellite camps a year ago and has another scheduled at Cedar Grove in Ellenwood. Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has a satellite camp scheduled at Central Gwinnett in Lawrenceville.
"I think it’s very smart on their part," Smart said. "I think they have a right to do it. Like I said, we have a plan ready. You’ll see soon enough."
This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 8:04 PM with the headline "Kirby Smart, UGA have plan in place if SEC satellite camp ban is lifted."