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NCAA overturns ban on satellite camps and guest coaching

Well, that was quick.

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Less than three weeks after the NCAA passed legislation outlawing satellite camps and guest coaching at the camps and clinics of other schools, the Division I Board of Directors overturned that ban on Thursday amidst pushback from schools, with Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh especially vocal about the change.

"The Board of Directors is interested in a holistic review of the football recruiting environment, and camps are a piece of that puzzle," said Board of Directors chair Harris Pastides, president of the University of South Carolina. "We share the Council's interest in improving the camp environment, and we support the Council's efforts to create a model that emphasizes the scholastic environment as an appropriate place for recruiting future student-athletes."

The ban also received criticism for hurting student-athletes without the resources to travel for camps to receive more exposure. One board member acknowledged that issue and also noted that member institutions had widely differing opinions on the subject.

In the past, Texas hasn't held satellite camps, and head coach Charlie Strong indicated before the NCAA passed the original legislation that he hadn't seriously considered doing so as he waited for a ruling. However, it could benefit Texas to hold camps in East Texas, West Texas, Louisiana, and even South Florida.

However, the Football Brainiacs report that there had been some impetus on Strong's part to hold such camps:

Despite what was publicly stated by the staff, I can tell you that last year there was actually a plan in place to hold satellite camps. Coach Strong intended to hold two camps in Dallas, one in Houston, one in Miami and a possible one in New Orleans. However, some folks in the administration prohibited the move (as a side note, I was told that the previous AD was supportive of it but the block came from elsewhere).

So it's something that Strong may have had his eye on to a larger extent than previously known.