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SEC to allow satellite camps if national ban not enacted

(AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jason Getz)
(AP Photo/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jason Getz)

It appears there is a solution to our national satellite camp nightmare.

According to the Associated Press, outgoing SEC commissioner Mike Slive announced Wednesday that the league will drop its restriction on its coaches attending satellite camps if the rest of the power conferences don’t agree to ban the practice.

The SEC (along with the ACC) currently outlaws the loophole that allows coaching staffs to attend prospect camps more than 50 miles away from campus as guests.

Though Slive said the SEC still intends to “make every effort to have our rule (banning coaches from attending camps) adopted nationally,” the league’s athletic directors voted to drop the restrictions beginning in 2016 if the other power conferences don’t agree to ban the camps.

“Our folks would be free to fan out all over the country and have at it,” Slive said.

Most notably, the coaching staff at Penn State drew the ire of SEC coaches and administrators by appearing at camps in Georgia and Florida last summer. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has organized a tour across nine different cities in seven states in June and coaches at Ohio State and Nebraska, among others, have scheduled appearances at camps hosted by other programs at various levels (anywhere from lower level FBS to high school).

If all goes as expected, SEC coaches will be doing the same next spring.

“They talked very specifically about their intent to canvas the nation if we’re in the same circumstance next year,” said incoming SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.

Satellite camps have existed long before James Franklin and Penn State made headlines last offseason, but the issue has come to the forefront over the past few years. It will be a part of the discussions of the NCAA’s football oversight committee when it meets next month.

It seems unlikely that the Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 would side with the SEC and vote to ban the camps, so expect the SEC coaches to hit the camp circuit hard.

“We’ll do it, I promise you, all summer next year,” said LSU head coach Les Miles. “Next year, we’ll be in all different locations.”

Let the games begin.

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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!