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The new NCAA rules to deter third party involvement in recruiting are already being felt: changes to summer camps and analyst hirings/concomitant recruitment are making their mark.
First, we begin with the IAWP rule (Individual Associated with Prospective athlete.) Let’s call it the Gus Malzahn rule. And, in an ironic twist, it is Auburn who is first affected by the IAWP. Auburn, which hired Coach Blackmon from Auburn-Opelika as an analyst, is now unable to recruit at the powerhouse for two years, barring applying for, and receiving, a waiver. That is a pipeline school for the Tigers, one routinely filled with blue chippers and 13 miles from Jordan-Hare stadium. Alabama has even reached into West Georgia and recruited Auburn-Opelika prospects like Rashaan Evans and Reuben Foster (and others.)
For once, you feel bad if not for Auburn then Gus Malzahn. He’s never hired a coach from a school where he has a recruit signing. That’s a matter of public record, and it is one that should be emphasized (by him, at the least.) The abiding majority of high school hirings are being done based upon identifiable coaching talent or potential to help the college team win as a coach. It is a profession, and all indication is that these personnel decisions are being treated by the involved parties like professionals.