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Nick Saban and Urban Meyer working toward adjusting NFL draft rules for underclassmen

Published: Jul 10, 2016 · 6:35 PM EDT

As it turns out, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer get along after all, at least that appears to be the case when they rally behind the same cause.

According to Eleven Warriors, the Ohio State head coach has been working with Saban to discuss the possibility of bringing change to the current NFL rules in regards to underclassmen evaluation. Something Meyer, and several SEC coaches, have indicated is needed to help the players make better choices in the future.

“Coach Saban and I have had many conversations. We had a conference call with a bunch of coaches on the line and no it’s not (done well),” Meyer said Wednesday according to Eric Seger of Eleven Warriors. “It’s not a process that is well done right now.”

In the 2016 NFL Draft alone, 96 players declared early for the draft – 30 of them did not get drafted in any of the seven rounds of the draft. In the 2015 NFL Draft, 74 players declared themselves eligible. That year marked the first draft in seven years in which the number of underclassmen to declare went down from the previous year. In 2014, a record 98 players declared early for the draft.

In the past year, Saban has publicly expressed his desire to see the draft changed, as have Bret Bielema and Gus Malzahn – after both coaches had players declare early for the latest NFL draft and go undrafted.

While you may think the coaches want more players to stay in school, they actually want the NFL to have more access to underclassmen and they wish to see the creation of an underclassmen combine for players before making their final decisions on whether to declare or to return to school. The logic in giving NFL teams more access will lead to better evaluations of underclassmen from NFL teams as well as giving underclassmen more accurate information in regards to their draft stock, thus likely leading to more informed decisions when considering making the jump early to the NFL.

“There is a rule that says the NFL cannot look at juniors,” Meyer said. “Of course you’re going to look at a junior and you should look at a junior. We’re going to try to get something where they actually come in and there is a time where they could work out the juniors.”

The fact that opposing coaches from different conferences all see the need for change is a good indication of how badly the system needs to be tweaked. If an open dialogue continues to occur between the coaches, the schools and the NFL, it stands to reason these outdated NFL draft rules are bound to change in the near future.

Michael Wayne Bratton

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Michael Wayne Bratton oversees the news coverage for Saturday Down South. Michael previously worked for FOX Sports and NFL.com