BOULDER — College football coaches in the Southeastern Conference and Atlantic Coast Conference have expressed their disapproval over the use of satellite camps by many of their peers, including Colorado’s Mike MacIntyre and every other coach in the Pac-12.
A satellite camp offers coaches from one school the opportunity to work at camps hosted by other schools. Coaches in the SEC and ACC don’t like the use of these camps because their conferences don’t allow them. With much of the nation’s best high school football talent in the ACC and SEC backyards, one could argue it helps level the playing field for the rest of the country.
MacIntyre, in his third year at CU, has been using satellite camps as a key part of his recruiting since he was named head coach at San Jose State in 2010. He prefers being able to conduct a CU camp in, say, Los Angeles in mid-July instead of being confined to campus.
“My whole issue all along is I don’t even know why they don’t let us travel anywhere you want to travel,” MacIntyre said. “I mean, I think it’s almost unconstitutional. If your school wants to travel and go have a camp somewhere else, why can’t you go have a camp somewhere else?
“The satellite camp is now a way that you’ve been able to do that, and people do it all over the country.”
While satellite camps might not be necessary for some programs in the Pac-12, such as UCLA and USC, they are essential to programs in states with smaller populations and fewer numbers of recruits. Even a powerhouse program such as Oregon sends its coaches to satellite camps because of the school’s rural location.
Oregon’s Mark Helfrich said his coaching staff will work three to eight satellite camps this summer.
“I think for a school like ours that would be considered ‘remote,’ it’s good to get out and be able to see (recruits),” Helfrich said. “It’s also valuable for us to know who is willing and able to come to our campus themselves and have a realistic chance of recruiting those guys in the long run.”
First-year Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has drawn the ire of SEC coaches and fans by deciding to send his staff to satellite camps in the heart of SEC territory.
But satellite camps aren’t one-sided opportunities. While they give coaches and college programs an opportunity to interact with recruits they might not otherwise be able to see, they offer the same opportunity to the recruits who attend. They also represent potential huge savings for recruits and their families.
“Our concept is to get ourselves in front of as many kids as we can and be involved with them and be able to see them play football,” said first-year Oregon State coach Gary Andersen. “I think another part of the satellite camps that are important is a lot of kids can’t afford to come to Corvallis and get to a camp and be coached by our coaches.”
