Evening star., 1931-12-15

THE annual meetings of the
Southern Conference and
i Southern Foot Ball Coaches
Association take place this
week, Thursday, Friday and Sat
urday, at New Orleans. The gath
ering of the coaches association
is Thursday night, while represen-
tatiVeS OF the q institutions max
ing up the conference get together
Friday and Saturday.
The coaches meeting is open to all
Southern coaches, whether or not they
are affiliated with Conference school.
In all probability there will be some
rather pIain-Spoken language among
members of the Conference, when they
get together in executive session Sat-
urday morning. The open meetings
are likely to be productive of little 9TH
er than formalltieS, but in the closed
ones there is pretty sure to be some
airing of family troubles.
The biggest problem that confrontS
the Conference seems to be in the mat
ter of scholastic regulations. 1t is not
a secret that in some cases high stand
ards of scholastic eligibility have not
been followed, and there is not the
least doubt that steps will be taken to
correct this.
The question of recruiting" athletes
also is likely to come up for consid-
cradle discussion, and some rather def
mite lines laid down as to what may
or may not be done in relationships to
athletic stars in the high and prep
schools.
However, the rumOr that started early
in the Fall that some, 10 of the confer
enCe schools planned to withdraw from
the conference and form a Southern
Big Ten" never had much real founda-
ton. Any chance that the conference
will break up, or disintegrate in any
way. is about as far removed from what
is likely to occur as anything possibly
could be
AS a matter of fact, if plans made for
the conference meeting Go not go aWry.
steps will be taken which should cement
the conference into a closer and more
compact relationship, and also provide
a means for seeing that eligibility rules
are enforced.
CCHOOLS from this section will be
- represented at the conference meet
ing and also at the coaches gather
ing. Washington and Lee North Caro-
lima, Virginia. North Carolina State,
Duke. Virginia Military Institute, Vir-
ginia Polytechnic Institute and Mary
land are members. and all are sending
their representatives.
From Washington it IS understood
that Tom Mills CT Georgetown. and
Dutch Bergman Of Catholic University,
are to attend the conference meetings
and also the coaches gathering. Both
have many personal friends among the
ii RI, loo
Southern Conference and both will feel
quite as much at home as if they were
attending gatherings in the Middle
West. where both coached before COM
ing here
Bo.h Mills and Bergman say they
have no AK to grind, are not looking
for games. but simply want to renew old
friendships and make new ones.
NNE of the talks to be given at the
~ coaches meeting Thursday night is
to be by Dan McGugin of Wander
bilt and his subject is The Responsible
tiles of the Foot Ball Coach" In his
talk McGugin intends to go right to the
fountain head of recruiting and say
things just about as plainly as they
can be said. McGugin knows conditions
in the South, and has known them OYER
a period of years such as no other
coach in the @ectiOn ever has expert
enced. SO consequently he ought 10 be
able to reach the heart of his subject
better than any other coach could.
PRACTICALLY all those going to
L New orleans for the conference
meetings will leave here. or from
points in Virginia tonight. They are
due to arrive at New orleans Thursday
morning Representatives Of conference
schools in the South Atlantic section
and also of Georgetown and Catholic
Universities, have been in touch with
one another in the last two days. max
ing arrangements to travel together.
There is a possibility, though, that if
Tom Mills makes the trip, he may not
leave until Wednesday.