Annual Percentage Rate? Alabama Public Radio? Apache Portable Runtime? American Poetry Review? Accredited in Public Relations? Academic Progress Report!

Currently the NCAA compiles and releases to the public academic progress reports (APR) for college sport teams. A team with a low APR can lose scholarships or be banned from postseason play if  it  isn't brought up within three years. The NCAA announced today that starting in 2011 the it will  keep track and publicize the APRs of individual  university coaches in all sports. The APR will track  coaches throughout their careers as they move from school to school but a  failure to keep an adequately  high APR will carry no sanctions, rather

They're intended for use by recruits, their parents and prospective employers in evaluating coaches and programs, along with wins and other competitive and personal criteria.

What got my attention about this story is Graham's somewhat cryptic opinion of this new policy.

Penn State President Graham Spanier predicted the coaches' ratings "could have a modest influence.

"Realistically," he said, "wins and losses weigh most heavily on a coach's reputation."

I say cryptic because it's not clear on whom he thinks the rating will have a "modest" effect.  Will the effect be modest on recruits? Most likely. Will the effect be modest on the parent's of recruits? For the most part. Will the effects be modest on university presidents in their hiring decisions? Ah, there's the rub. Here Graham can speak for at least one president.  Is Graham  admitting that he would hire a coach solely on wins and losses even if the coach has an APR in the basement? This is something to think about as we contemplate life after JoePa at Penn State.

Technorati Tags: Penn State, Spanier, NCAA, APR

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