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Is this Why Ole Miss Dominated Signing Day?

Posted by on February 8, 2013 in Blog, Georgia Bulldogs, SEC | 3 Comments

A reader tipped me off yesterday to the University of Mississippi’s relaxed stance on failed drug tests.

I’ve done a little reading, and the most recent data I can find summarizes the penalties for failed drug tests by student-athletes at Ole Miss like this:

  • First Failed Test: No Penalty
  • Second Failed Test: No Penalty
  • Third Failed Test: Three Game Suspension

 

Contrast that with the standard below for Georgia student athletes (accompanied by the football precedents):

  • First Failed Test: Suspension for no less than 10% of season (2 games for football)
  • Second Failed Test: Suspension for no less than 30% of season (4 games for football)
  • Third Failed Test: Dismissal from team

 

To be fair: Ole Miss Administration may have revised the drug policy, but as of July 2012 this was the standard.

Furthermore, am I saying that all Ole Miss athletes are druggies?  YES!!!! No!  But if I had a few criminal habits such as a history of drug use, I’d probably take my talents to Ole Miss instead of Georgia.  Am I accusing any of the Rebels’ new recruits of ever using illegal drugs?  Of course I am!!!! No.  But if I was looking for a football program that was a little bit more relaxed than others (Clemson, UCLA and Purdue are the only other BCS-Conference schools that share Ole Miss’s “third-chance for free” policy), I’d consider making Oxford my home.

Do I really believe this is why Ole Miss pulled in such a great recruiting class?  Not really.  But it makes a lot more sense than the “family ties magic” that Hugh Freeze is selling.