The new Texas A&M Aggies coaching staff is already facing allegations of NCAA violations.
Linebacker Santino Marchiol, who is looking to leave the program and play immediately at Arizona, has filed a request for a transfer waiver. The NCAA recently added a new rule that says transfers will not have to sit out a year if they can prove “documented mitigating circumstances that are outside student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete.” The rule is the product of the transfers like Shea Patterson who left Ole Miss and alleged the former coaches misled them.
According to USA Today, in a request for a transfer waiver sent to Arizona, Marchiol accuses Texas A&M’s coaches of running summer practices and workouts that fall outside the scope of what is allowed by the NCAA. He accuses Aggies linebackers coach Bradley Dale Peveto of giving him several hundreds of dollars in cash to pay for recruits who were on unofficial visits. Marchiol also accuses the coaches of forcing him to practice on a serious ankle injury. The full accusations are detailed in USA Today’s article.
This story is significant for two reasons. One, it could lead to an investigation of Texas A&M’s new coaching staff and potential penalties. Two, it could be a sign of what is to come given this new transfer rule. Players may be more willing to call attention to questionable actions by coaches in order to be granted a transfer waiver.
