The new realities of college football and the transfer portal have even reached the service academies and with it the underlying machinations of tampering.
“It’s all of our problem. It’s college football’s problem,’’ Army head coach Jeff Monken said.
Army’s lead rushing back Kanye Udoh announced his entrance into the NCAA transfer portal mere hours after the Black Knights bowed to Navy last Saturday, and will not participate in next week’s Independence Bowl matchup with Louisiana Tech.
“We certainly wish him well,’’ Monken said. “We’re disappointed to lose him. He’s a good player but he’s also a really good young man. I really like him (and) his parents, and have enjoyed having him here in the program.’’
But the hows and whys for his departure have yet to be addressed, and Monken believes Udoh was being lured away.
“I think there were some things going on, feelers being put out through other channels,’’ Monken said. “It’s not permissible for coaches to contact other players at other colleges directly, but through other channels. I think that just kind of got him thinking about the opportunities (at) other places.’’
Udoh is represented by Vienna Talent.
Udoh reposted a Tweet from the website Rivals that he had four recruiting visits planned this week: Missouri on Wednesday; SMU on Thursday; Arizona State on Friday; and, North Carolina on Saturday. Udoh already put down a report that he had agreed to sign with UNC and new head coach Bill Belichick. “Not true,’’ Udoh wrote.
Udoh hails from New Jersey, and a website (njgridiron) that covers football in the state said a host of major schools had reached out to Udoh shortly after his decision: Kansas State; Arizona State; SMU; Arkansas; Missouri; Virginia; Virginia Tech Boston College; Vanderbilt; Ohio State; Appalachian State; South Carolina; Michigan State; Stanford; Iowa State; Houston; Utah; California; Tulane; and USC.
Army football: Commitment is important
Monken believes that all college athletes have the right to choose where they want to play but also questions the message it is sending.
“I think it’s an important lesson for young people to learn that when they make a pledge of commitment (that) they keep it and fulfill the obligation of (their) contract,’’ Monken said. “I don’t know that that anyone in any profession … should be able to accept money and say I’m going to pledge a commitment to this organization and then be able to walk with that money and not fulfill their obligation.’’
“It’s off the guard rails,’’ Monken continued. “I mean it’s, ‘Go wherever you want. Pay is whatever people want to pay you. Transfer here, transfer there.’ It’s not good for college sports, it’s not good for college football. And I don’t think it’s teaching positive lessons for our young people.’’
But in the same breath Monken supports free will.
“I do think that they should be able to go where they want and play where they want, go to school and get a degree where they want and be able to earn money doing that,’’ he said. But he also noted “I hate for us to lose the importance of seeking a college degree. I think it’s really hard to earn a college degree if you’re at four different colleges.’’
Portal timing needs change
The transfer portal should not be open during the season, Monken said. “The coaches all said this,’’ he noted.
“We were opposed to a transfer portal window during the season because of what it’s creating. In college football, you’ve got teams of young men who are committed to those teams and say, ‘I want to finish this season and play in a bowl game with my team’ and they have teammates that have left the team and said, ‘Well, I’m not going to play with you anymore. I don’t want to be part of this team. I’m going to go pursue another team.’
“Whereas, if a transfer window was open outside of the season I don’t think there would be the issues like we had with (original bowl matchup Marshall) just completely dropping and saying, ‘We’re not going to play, we’re not going to field the team for the game.’ I think players would stick it out through the end of the season and it would give those teams the best chance to win, which is what every player deserves. Every team deserves that. Players who stay in a program … they don’t deserve to have people that desert them in the middle of the year and just say, ‘Well, you guys go fend for yourself. You counted on me all year, but you can’t count on me anymore.’ I don’t think that’s healthy. I don’t think it’s healthy for a team. I don’t think it’s a good lesson for our young people to learn.’’
“(The coaches are) all saying the same thing because we all believe the same thing. We want to build teams and we want our young people to come and earn degrees and want them to have a great experience. We want them to build lasting relationships with their teammates and coaches and feel a sense of loyalty to the school that they play for and be developed. We’re in the people development business – that’s why I got into this profession. One of the things I really enjoy still about being here (is) that we recruit these guys and for the most part we’re able to retain them through the duration of their college career and they get a chance to develop and we see them grow and graduate. I mean, it’s awesome. That’s what college sports is.’’
Last-minute changes
As for how Army plans to face Louisiana Tech without Udoh has the prime back, Monken said his team is planning no significant changes to the offense in his absence.
“We’ll adjust,’’ he said. “I’m sure that we’ll continue to do the things that we’ve done on offense. We don’t intend to change and be different schematically because of a change in a player.’’
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Monken pointed to running backs Hayden Reed, Jake Rendina and Carson Smith as players who “will get more carries than they probably had gotten as a running back for us.’’ Reed and Rendina have played huge roles as blocking backs for Udoh and quarterback Bryson Daily, who is the team’s leading rusher.
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