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Transfer restrictions placed on Miami RB Gus Edwards are institutional policy, AD says
Miami announced last week that running back Gus Edwards planned to pursue a graduate transfer.
Edwards, a native of Staten Island, N.Y. who rushed for 977 yards and 12 touchdowns in three seasons for the Hurricanes, reportedly wants to play his final season of college football closer to home.
According to Scout.com, Miami won’t grant permission for Edwards to transfer to two schools he’s apparently interested in: Syracuse (where Edwards was once verbally committed until Doug Marrone left for the NFL) and Pittsburgh (a breezy 5-hour drive from Staten Island). When reached by the Palm Beach Post, Miami athletic director Blake James said Edwards has not formally requested his transfer from Miami, but confirmed that the school would not allow him to land at either of those schools.
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The reason? Both are on Miami’s schedule in 2017.
The issue, UM Athletics Director Blake James said, is that those schools are on Miami’s 2017 schedule. According to James, Edwards has not approached UM with a formal request to transfer, but UM would not waive the NCAA’s one-time transfer exception for those schools.
“Institutionally, our policy has been that we would not do that for a school we’re going to play in the upcoming season,” James said.
Without a waiver from UM, Edwards could still transfer to Syracuse or Pittsburgh, but he would have to sit out a year. That would not be in his best interests, since his five-year NCAA eligibility expires after 2017.
This is pretty much standard procedure for transfers. Shai McKenzie, a running back transfer from Virginia Tech, tweeted out his official release from VT’s compliance department. It clearly lists that McKenzie is not permitted to transfer to other ACC members or schools on the Hokies’ 2017 or 2018 schedules.
A copy of my release for any coach trying to reach out to me. My personal email is shaim28@vt.edu pic.twitter.com/xiyTGrjl2V
— ShaiMcKenzie (@Mckenzie_era) January 23, 2017
So it’s not like Miami is out on an island with these policies. However, it does go against what Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt has said about transfers for years. Richt has made it clear on many occasions, especially during his long tenure at Georgia, that he does not like restricting the transfer destinations of his former players.
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“Life is too short,” Richt said in August before his first season with the Hurricanes. “I have unconditionally released every guy that ever wanted to leave. I’d call the commissioner [of the conference] and say, ‘Hey, if the kid wants to go…let him go wherever he wants to go.’ We had, I think, two kids go to Bama. At least one went to Auburn…maybe two.”
In 2012, Richt even mentioned the specific instance of a player having success against his former school.
“I want our guys to stay, and sometimes when they do choose to leave, I still like the kid and I still want the kid to have success,” Richt said. “If he thinks he will have success at a school you compete against, then so be it.”
James made it clear this is an “institutional” policy, so this situation could be above Richt’s head. Still, you’d think a guy who has been as outspoken about transfer restrictions as any coach in the country would feel the need to intervene in some capacity.
For more Miami news, visit CaneSport.com.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
