Weis should do for Kansas QB what Florida did for Mike Blakely

The plight of University of Kansas quarterback Brock Berglund is a prime example of what is wrong with college athletics and how the NCAA tries to control an athlete’s life.

The Associated Press reported that the freshman from Denver was dismissed from the squad last week when he didn't attend a mandatory team meeting with the Jayhawks' new coaching staff.

He wants to transfer and feared that by attending the meeting he would be locked in for another semester, the AP report said.

Berglund told the AP in a phone interview that he sent a written request to school administrators in late December asking for permission to speak to other universities, but the request was denied.

The 19-year-old has a meeting scheduled for Friday in Lawrence, Kan., with the university's student-athlete appeals board, which will make a determination on whether the denial of Berglund's transfer request was fair.

This is another example of how college coaches can leave anytime without repercussions even if they break a contract, while athletes have no freedom of movement.

It’s particularly troublesome for Berglund and others in his situation because the coaches who recruited him are not longer there.

Berglund has hired a lawyer to help him get released from his scholarship so he can play for another school, according to the AP report.

A similar situation occurred last year with Manatee High running back Mike Blakely who was recruited by Urban Meyer at Florida. Meyer left Florida when Blakely got there at mid year and he wanted to leave.

Fortunately, for Blakely, Gators new coach Will Muschamp allowed him to leave to play for SEC foe Auburn. Manatee High legendary coach Joe Kinnan contacted Muschamp on behalf of Blakely.

"It's just very fortunate that Coach Muschamp, a class act, went ahead and released him to go to Auburn. He didn't think he would have an opportunity to go to Auburn, but it worked out,” Kinnan said at the time.

Ironically the new head coach for Kansas is former Florida offensive coordinator and Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis.

One of the first things Weis did was bring in senior transfer quarterback Dayne Crist from Notre Dame. With only one year of eligibility it doesn't appear Crist came to play backup.

Weis announced this week that Berglund was no longer part of the Kansas football team, but no mention was given about his release to pursue other schools.