



Earlier this month, the Division I council approved a ban on college football satellite camps.

No longer can FBS schools set up camps at stadiums or fields that they don’t regularly play in or practice at. Additionally, coaches from FBS schools cannot be a guest coach at camps hosted by other coaching staffs at other schools.

Most prominently, last summer, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh and his staff held camps all across the country. Harbaugh and company held camps in Alabama, California, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The Big 12 Conference was one of the four power five leagues to vote against satellite camps. Only the Big Ten voted in favor.

West Virginia University doesn’t have a huge fight in the satellite camp debate other than that the school is a member of the Big 12 Conference, which voted against satellite camps, but when asked about the issue, athletic director Shane Lyons voiced his opinion.

“Camps were once formed for developmental purposes and they’ve turned totally into recruiting tools,” Lyons told WVSports.com. “I think it’s forcing your institution and camp to move all around the country. In reality, how many of those kids are really coming to your school?”

“I think it was some of the schools in Texas and Florida that felt like the schools from the north were taking their prospects. We have kids from Florida on our team and we have never held a camp down there.”

Currently, West Virginia has ten players from Florida on its spring roster.

For a program without a large instate recruiting base, West Virginia relies on regional prospects to show up at summer camps in Morgantown.

Since the ruling came down, many have spoken up about revisiting the issue of satellite camps in an official manner.

While the topic could be brought up again, Lyons doesn’t foresee the ruling being changed.

“We voted through the Big 12 and the Big 12 carries our votes as a representative form of governance, so the schools have spoken,” Lyons said. “I don’t see it being tabled or overturned. I don’t think you’re going to have those numbers.”

“It’s something that we’ll keep monitoring as we go down the path, but I do believe it was the right decision at this time. The conferences have spoken.”