English: Will Muschamp as the defensive coordinator for the Longhorns (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Muschamp Stings Ohio State with a Jab at SEC Media Day

It's still fresh in everybody's memory when Ohio State was banned from the postseason of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) for not following the prestigious Association's rules during the Jim Tressel era. This year will be the first under urban Meyer when they can play in the postseason. They also had scholarship reductions and are on probation until the last month of 2014. Well, allegedly, The Florida Gators did not follow all the NCAA rules as well but were surprisingly cleared with incident. On the other hand, OSU was not allowed to play in the postseason last year because of a violation. Do you think they planned some sort of revenge on the Gators when news recently came out about an assistant not following recruiting regulations? Time will tell.

For starters, the latest violation for the Gators was when Ohio State allegedly turned in assistant coach Brian White because he violated the "bump rule". This rule enforces college coaches to not contact nor have any interaction with recruits within a certain time frame, known as the quiet period. In this case, Meyer says that they contacted the 5-star prospect running back Curtis Samuel of Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, New York during the specific period. In response to this, Meyer says that the compliance department of Ohio State reported the violation regarding Samuel's recruitment to the Big Ten office and that he knew about it after it had already been reported. But in other reports, they say that Meyer was completely aware of the allegation and approved that this issue be reported.

Another incident happened last year that involved Jordan Sherit, a 4- star rated player. He was an incoming Gator freshman and it was reported that he rode to Gainesville because he had to visit a friend who was on the football team. Again, this allegation was unfounded and no sanctions were declared against the Gators.

Florida’s coach Will Muschamp expressed his disappointment about these allegations by telling reporters during the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Media Days just recently. He sarcastically told the reporters the following quote:

"We appreciate our good friends from Ohio State making sure we follow NCAA rules. They certainly know something about NCAA rules."
This struck the hearts of athletes and fans alike of Ohio State. Fan bases and sites of both universities are heating up with chatter about the situation. The tension between the Gators and the Buckeyes is certainly flaring up more and more over time.

Muschamp added that he is training all his players and is keeping a close eye on what all his players are doing. He was asked about the responsibility that the coaches are liable of and he said that, "I can't possibly know everything that happens every single night with our football team. But you also can't stick your head in the sand and pretend everything is okay, either." Possibly also referring to Jim Tressel’s denial that he knew about OSU players selling autographs for tattoos at a local tattoo parlor a couple of years ago.