“Who Should Really Be Punished?”
When any college program seems to be punished for infractions, it is the university that takes the black eye instead of the coaches. How is it that the NCAA can find so many infractions committed by the coaching staff and athletic administration but only punish the university teams? In my personal opinion, there is something wrong with that picture. Why can’t the NCAA punish the coaches and staff members that are caught doing wrong instead of punishing the teams?
The Death Penalty
People that follow sports from Texas should know plenty about the Death Penalty and I am not talking about capital punishment but the NCAA sanctions that were brought against the University of Southern Methodist. The NCAA had found that thirteen players were being paid $61,000 or more by SMU boosters.1 Soon after these infractions were found, the NCAA gave SMU the death penalty resulting in a two year ban of any football games to be played at home and loses of scholarships. Since this 1987 death penalty to SMU not one school has ever gotten the death penalty since and no coaches or athletic directors were relieved or fired from their jobs. Many coaches had left knowing the impending doom to the university to avoid being punished by the NCAA.
Present day
A lot has changed in the NCAA now compared to the 1987 death penalty of SMU. Now the NCAA will not give universities a penalty like they did against SMU. However, the newest school to be put on the radar is the University of Mississippi for recruiting violations.2 Ole Miss is facing violations for recruiting under another head coach that was fired by the university before the new coach Hugh Freeze was hired. This is a prime example of how coaches and administrators should get the punishment from the NCAA not the University. Too many times head coaches and assistant coaches get away with not having to face any punishment but instead fold up shop and move on to another school. When will the NCAA learn they need to punish the coaches, administrators, or whoever commits these infractions and not the university’s program as a whole?
References:
1
http://www.realclearsports.com/lists/infamous_ncaa_sanctions/smu_football.html?state=stop
2
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14749886/mississippi-football-program-cited-13-28-rules-violations-ncaa
Pictures
1 http://www.abridgeme.com/article-details/smu-footballs-death-penalty
2 http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football-news/4694435-ole-miss-rebels-ncaa-violations-football-laremy-tunsil-hugh-freeze-sec
How would the NCAA go about punishing the coaches and AD's who committed violations?
ReplyDeleteI agree that the death penalty is more of a punishment for the players rather than the administration/coaching staff. How should the NCAA go about invoking a punishment that wouldn't effect the players but still deliver to the staff and administration? Also do you feel the NCAA is hypocritical in its punishment for students who use their own name for profit (the NCAA does just that, everyday)?
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