Springtime in Logan could look a little different this year for Aggie football fans.
New head coach Bronco Mendenhall will get a first look at his new roster when practices begin in a few weeks. But fans might have to wait longer than usual to get their own glimpse because Mendenhall is unsure if he’ll let his team play its annual spring game for fans at Maverik Stadium.
The reason?
Poachers.
“Am I concerned about having an open scrimmage for opponents to show up, or the national landscape to send personnel here to watch that and then simply buy our players? Certainly,” Mendenhall said earlier this month. “So, yes, I’ll consider what our spring practice might look like in terms of a spring game.”
The Aggies aren’t the only school considering shutting down their spring game.
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule told reporters this month that he “dealt with a lot of people offering our players a lot of opportunities” after the Huskers’ exhibition last spring.
“To go out and bring in a bunch of new players and then showcase them for all the other schools to watch,” Rhule said, “that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
In Logan, the ink has just dried on the national letters of intent for Mendenhall’s first Aggie signing class.
“I’d love to generate momentum and excitement for Utah State football to connect with the community,” Mendenhall said of playing this spring.
He’d also love to generate some extra revenue.
“But what if that’s at the expense of six or eight of your best players, being seen and then being moved from your roster with really not much chance to replace it before your season starts?” he said. “So that’s something that’s evolving and is real.”
With the NCAA Transfer Portal opening for 10 days in April, every coach is still looking to make moves while trying to keep their own roster intact. Mendenhall said he needed to sign 17 new players after spring practice last season when he was coaching at New Mexico.
“There’s really nothing that’s preventing anyone that’s looking for players … to show up to the spring game, assess them again in real-time with their eyes on them, and then here’s the window, and then offer them,” Mendenhall said. “Yes, it’s a concern. Yes, we’ll address it. How? I’m not quite sure yet, but I’ll do so in the way that’s best for our team and best for our community and best for our fans.”
The new Aggie coach said he doesn’t believe the NCAA has the manpower to properly enforce its tampering rules, creating a chaotic environment for coaches even when the transfer portal isn’t open.
“I’m not sure that tampering is preventable,” he said. “If grown men leading programs won’t play by the rules, then what an indictment against the world of leadership and sport, but that’s currently what’s happening. I don’t think there’s an enforcement staff currently that can pull it off. I don’t think there’s a governing body that can currently pull it off.
“I think the guidelines and the rules have to be simply, more powerfully designed to where it can be governed, but it’s clearly not, and I’m not sure you could find a head coach at any level that says it is being governed well.”
Mendenhall hasn’t made a final decision about his team’s spring game just yet, but he said he is open to alternatives.
“I might move that to the fall, right before the season starts where the roster can be solidified without the risk that we’re talking about,” he said. “I would love our fans and those who support our program to see our team. I now have to manage that in the context of what’s best for the program with a spring window.”
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