Greg Sankey: SEC will address fan and player misconduct, field storming ‘sooner than later’
Following a wild Rivalry Week that saw multiple on-field fights break out among players across all leagues, as well as a rise in fan misconduct and field storming this season, something has to give.
On the same day it was revealed a University of Texas internal investigation found no one at fault for a bottle-throwing incident that halted the Georgia-Texas game on Oct. 19, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addressed the need for the SEC to develop a “better management policy” to resolve some of these serious behavioral issues across college football.
“The issue, big picture, is not completed. It’s not concluded. We will have offseason, sooner than later, conversations about field rushing issues,” Sankey said during Thursday’s SEC Championship pregame press conference. “I think we may have set a record in the number (of field stormings this season) and those create problems and we have to be aware of those problems.
“So that’s one (issue). The crowd conduct (is another). So, there wasn’t simply one bottle thrown (in the Georgia–Texas game) … and we have to have a better management policy in place across the league,” Sankey continued. “I also know last week we saw conduct issues in rivalry games. We have dealt with some of those previously in some of our in-conference rivalries.”
On-field melees erupted in several high-profile rivalry games throughout college football last Saturday, beginning with The Game, where Ohio State linebacker Jack Sawyer ripped a Michigan block “M” flag away from a Wolverines player attempting to plant it at midfield of the Buckeyes’ home stadium sparking a brawl that required police to use pepper spray to break it up.
Sankey addresses flag-panting incidents across college football
But the Big Ten wasn’t alone in that. There were also fights in the Big 12 clash between BYU and Houston that led to ejections, as well as in the North Carolina–NC State and Virginia–Virginia Tech games in the ACC. The SEC wasn’t without incident of course as a late hit out of bounds led to a brief skirmish in the Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn players.
“I haven’t (seen) much of a flag-planting issue (in the SEC, but) I look at what happened earlier in the day and I think that that multiplied itself later in the day,” Sankey continued. “But we have to be better than each of those elements and each of those will be part of our conversation as I noted happening sooner rather than later.”
One way Sankey suggested SEC programs might be able to address fan-involved events like the Texas bottle-throwing incident is to greatly increase the number of cameras located throughout SEC stadiums.
“One (thing we’ve learned from) the experiences we’ve had, and this isn’t the only bottle-throwing experience, is we don’t always have cameras where there need to be cameras,” Sankey added. “So, we will work to see how our stadiums may adjust.”
Urban Meyer blasts postgame Ohio State-Michigan fight
Former Ohio State and Florida head coach Urban Meyer took issue with what transpired on the Ohio Stadium field following Michigan‘s 13-10 road upset of then-No. 2 Ohio State in The Game last Saturday.
“This is wrong on all fronts,” Meyer said on this week’s The Triple Option podcast with Mark Ingram and Rob Stone. “Get off the field. I’m just not into taunting, I’m not into embarrassing your opponent. I’m into beating their ass the best you can, and that’s what they did. But then go celebrate. Don’t do that.
“And the next part is, Ohio State turned and charged them. Was that wrong? Absolutely wrong. It’s criminal. It’s called assault. In the real world you can’t do that. It’s wrong on all fronts,” Meyer continued. “But I’d also be disappointed in my team if I’m standing there and you see your archrival do something on your field. It’s time to go fight them. It’s what you do. It shouldn’t come to that though.”
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