Satellite camps are dead, but not all the way dead. Confused? Allow Miracle Max from the classic film "The Princess Bride" to explain.
Voted down by the Division I Council on April 8, effective immediately, satellite camps are not at the pick-for-loose-change state. Not yet, at least. Passed by a 10-5 vote, the ban currently rests in a 60-day override period and could be rescinded if two-thirds of FBS programs (either 85 or 86, depending on how technical you want to get with the math) vote to do so. That seems unlikely, considering 19 of the 31 coaches and administrators on record as compiled by ESPN have either come out in favor of the ban or offered no resistance to it. TCU's Gary Patterson also told me earlier this week he supported the ban.
The NCAA's Board of Directors, comprised mostly of one president from each Division I conference, could alter the rule at its April 28 meeting. NCAA executive Oliver Luck said as much earlier this week.
Or, as Tommy Tuberville suggests, change could come by way of the conference structure.
"I think what is happening now is the coaches that see the consequences of it are going to their athletic directors, the athletic directors will go their representatives and everybody will have their conference meetings next month," Tuberville told ESPN. "I think this will be on the agenda of every conference meeting. I think you're going to have enough negative input that they're going to say, 'OK, let's table it for a year and rethink it next year and really do the right thing.'"
But Mike Leach, one of the coaches most affected by the rule, had his own explanation for how the rule came to be, likening its passing to another famous movie character.
"I can't help but wonder if there was some manipulation with this thing, because that doesn't make any sense," Leach told ESPN's Tom VanHaaren. "I don't know what ivory tower or what cliff these people flew to vote, but this is something out of 'James Bond,' where they got together and voted and plotted taking control of the world. Wherever it was, some lair in the mountains with ice and machinery, a cold Dr. Evil environment where these guys voted on this thing then, at the end, they all put their hands together and did a really weird laugh, because soon they'll be conquering the world.
"That's how I envision this entire thing, and to be perfectly honest, there's more evidence towards that direction than anything legitimate happened with regard to this."
He continued:
"Now everybody has to rally and go on a scavenger hunt, unfold the secret, follow the tracks of who screwed this up and why. The whole thing is based on totally selfish motives with complete 100 percent shear unadulterated disregard for what's best for the potential student-athlete. These guys voted against this just so they can protect their recruiting base.
"What are these guys afraid of? Here we are, a country with this national sport, and all the sudden you can't come into our region because there's something special about us. How creepy and paranoid is that?"
To bring satellite camps back to life, Leach and his cohorts are going to need to find their own Miracle Max.