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BREAKING: Satellite Camps Are Dead...Harming Only Small Programs.

Satellite camps were hurting someone, but it wasn't the SEC or the ACC.

By Erik Evans
Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Good job, REC. Good job.

NCAA kills Jim Harbaugh's satellite camps, effective immediately | MLive.com

Jim Harbaugh's satellite camp days have come to a close.

The NCAA announced Friday that the Division I Council has opted to approve a proposal -- originally brought forth by the Atlantic Coast Conference -- that bans Football Bowl Subdivision teams from participating in satellite camps. This change, per the NCAA, is effective immediately.

"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," a release stated Friday.

"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 is terrible news for the Sun Belt schools and those smaller programs who benefited from the rare diamonds in the rough that these camps offered. After all, that is who satellite camps were hurting the most. Despite narratives to the contrary, all evidence indicates that it was smaller programs who were going to be, and were actually, harmed -- not the monoliths in the SEC or ACC.

Still, takes are flying off the shelf, and so many people are #mad #online (some, as the Mothership's article indicates, are rightly pissed -- these smaller coaches and sun belt athletes who WANT to go to a distant school are being denied an opportunity.)

You know, despite the fact these #takes are demonstrably incorrect, and it really IS about the SEC's self-interest, who cares? Kiss the ring, baby. If the Big Ten really wants to equalize recruiting of some sun belt talent, then it's really in their best interests to try like hell for an early signing period. As Bud Elliot's reasoned opinion notes, satellite camps were never meant to be used this way -- they were always for the smaller guys. Instead, the Big Ten's temper tantrums, taunting, and brashness have killed an opportunity alright, but not those for SEC schools who will always have greater access to the elite local talent base.

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