The Southeastern Conference suddenly has gone from dominant to disadvantaged in college football, and league coaches aren't taking that well.
SEC coaches had their say Tuesday afternoon as the conference's spring meetings kicked off in Destin, Fla. Satellite camps and rules regarding graduate transfers are concerns within the league, and nobody seems to have a way of appeasing the masses on cost of attendance.
"We need to have the same rules in all five leagues if we're going to compete for the championship and everybody's going to play in the playoff system," Alabama coach Nick Saban said in a news conference at the Sandestin Beach Hilton. "We need to get our rules in alignment so we're all on a level playing field, whether it's transfer rules or satellite camp rules. It's a disadvantage not to be able to do something in one league when you're able to in another."
Mississippi football coach Hugh Freeze looks down field toward Mississippi State as they warm up prior to their NCAA college football game in Oxford, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) 
Coach Mark Richt participates in a news conference in this Dec. 29, 2014, file photo.
Starting next week, Michigan will begin its "Summer Swarm" and hold nine satellite camps in seven states, according to the Detroit Free Press. Two of the stops will be Tampa, Fla., and Prattville, Ala. -- locales that are a bit more associated with the Florida Gators, Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers.
SEC rules prevent its schools to conduct camps in other parts of the country, which is a practice that gained attention last summer when Penn State held one at Georgia State in Atlanta.
"We have a lot of crazy rules," Saban said. "Head coaches are not allowed to go out during the evaluation period in the spring, yet you can go have a satellite camp anywhere in the country? You can bring your staff in and bring players to it? Does that make any sense to anybody? We should have recruiting periods and evaluation periods, and the only place to have a camp is on your campus."
Said Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze: "The NCAA rule for satellite camps is very clear. It is not designed for recruiting. I am not for satellite camps, and I wish everyone was the same as us."
Penn State is scheduled to be back in Atlanta next month, and Nebraska is coming this time as well. Notre Dame and Ohio State also have satellite camps planned for this summer.
The subject of graduate transfers became a recent issue when quarterback Everett Golson graduated from Notre Dame and selected Florida State for his final season of eligibility. Golson considered Florida and Georgia, but an SEC bylaw forbids a league member from accepting a graduate student-athlete who has been "subject to official university or athletic department disciplinary action" at his previous institution.
Golson quarterbacked the Irish to a berth in the BCS title game in 2012 but served an academic-related suspension in 2013.
The SEC won seven consecutive national championships from 2006 to 2012, but Saban fears the conference will soon become "a farm system for all the other leagues" if it remains at a disadvantage.
Cost of attendance was debated Tuesday as well, with coaches at schools giving less money than others expressing their displeasure. Tennessee ($5,666) and Auburn ($5,586) have the highest estimates nationally as far as additional amounts to athletic scholarships, while Georgia ($3,221) and Texas A&M ($3,100) are in the lower half of the league.
"I don't think it's a good thing at all," Georgia's Mark Richt told reporters. "I don't think it's right anyone should have that kind of advantage or disadvantage."
Tuesday's opening of the meetings wasn't all about venting. In a chance to toast the outgoing commissioner, South Carolina's Steve Spurrier called Mike Slive "the best SEC commish since Roy Kramer." Slive, of course, was Kramer's successor.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.