Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/2/2010 at 11:45am

FAYETTEVILLE — Call Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett’s cell phone without him giving you the number and you’re bound to get no answer. Hit up tight end D.J. Williams with an unsolicited friend request on Facebook and there is a good chance you’ll be ignored.

It’s nothing personal.

Mallett, Williams and other draft- eligible players from the University of Arkansas are learning how crucial it is to err on the side of caution. Agents and/or their runners seem to be an increasingly common part of life for college players, and avoiding potential contact might be the easiest way to avoid potential trouble.

“We’re handling it right at Arkansas,” Williams said. “I don’t see it being a problem. … That’s why it’s important for coaches to educate their players on what is right to do.”

It’s not a matter of if players with pro potential will be contacted. It’s not a matter of when players will be contacted. It’s a matter of how a player handles the situation once contacted.

What to do about agents on campus became news late last month because of NCAA investigations at various schools, including South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino and players Mallett, Williams and defensive end Jake Bequette said at SEC Media Days there are safeguards in place to avoid similar troubles within the Razorbacks’ program.

Taking a proactive approach to education about agents is key, Arkansas senior associate athletic director for compliance Jon Fagg said. He’s worked in compliance at Fresno State and North Carolina State before taking the job at Arkansas, and he’s dealt with players as high profile as former Wolfpack quarterback Philip Rivers, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft.

Warding off agents can be a challenge. Some work through runners who befriend prospects, shower them with gifts and try to leverage that into a player signing with a specific agent.

“It’s a cat-and-mouse game,” Fagg said. “Agents are chasing you. Agents need you. Student-athletes need an agent at some point, but there is nobody on our team that needs an agent today. … They’ll need them later, but they don’t need them today.”

Helping players understand the consequences of the “game” is a focal point for Fagg and the Arkansas Athletic Department. Education begins with a presentation on agents, and the audience includes even incoming freshmen.

No. 1 on the list of lessons taught is that contact with an agent is not an NCAA violation. No. 1-A on the list is hammering home the point that taking anything from an agent — money, food, a ride to class — is a serious no-no.

Arkansas doesn’t end the education process there.

Older players and those most likely bound for the NFL Draft are given the opportunity to meet with Joe Mendes, a longtime NFL scout and executive and now a sports consultant. Mendes, who could not be reached for comment, has met with Arkansas players twice this summer and provides a valuable service, including guiding players through the selection of an agent.

“When we meet with agents, he’s sitting there right beside us,” Williams said. “Agents don’t have the opportunity to take advantage of players that way.”

Approaches vary, a byproduct of few NCAA rules being in place to govern the player-agent relationship. Unlike how different schools might regulate, say, a recruiting visit, there is an array of ideas for handling visits by agents.

No philosophy appears to be more right than another.

“It’s interesting how different everybody truly is,” Fagg said. “There are such a wide variety of approaches to dealing with agents. I think that’s part of the reason you see [what is] going on with agents right now.

“There are very few actual rules. So, it becomes, how do you monitor those few rules?”

Even the league’s most successful coaches attack the issue from opposite ends of the spectrum. Florida apparently has a strict no-agent-on-campus policy, while Alabama is much freer with player-agent interaction.
Florida Coach Urban Meyer, who referred to agents as predators, told reporters he prefers to keep agents out of the program. Security measures are taken to ensure players are protected at Florida. Saban likened some agents to nothing more than “pimps,” but that hasn’t stopped him from opening his office for meetings between Crimson Tide players and potential representatives.

Arkansas’ approach is somewhere in the middle between the Saban and Meyer extremes. Petrino isn’t opening up his office for meetings per se, but he does encourage Razorbacks with pro futures to meet with agents within the familiar walls of the Broyles Complex.

“You want to make sure that everything’s up front,” Petrino said. “If you got a guy that’s trying to do something outside, behind our back, behind our administration’s back, then you’re not going to want that guy to represent you anyway when you come down to the decision.”

Fagg and Petrino have worked to develop a policy. It will be firmly tested this year with a roster loaded with potential NFL players.

Even with all Arkansas has done, there’s no guarantee it’s enough. One player ignoring what he’s been told and making one bad decision can have consequences.

“We work hard to stay on top of it,” Athletic Director Jeff Long said. “At the same time, it can happen. It can happen at good universities. It can happen where they have strong compliance programs.”

Arkansas players and administrators are doing all they can to ensure it doesn’t happen to them. They’re hopeful it’s enough.

Tagged: Arkansas Razorbacks, D.J. Williams, Ryan Mallett, Bobby Petrino, Jon Fagg, NCAA, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer