October 20, 2004
NCAA won't sanction Neuheisel, scolds Washington
The NCAA announced this morning that it was declining to sanction former Washington Head Coach Rick Neuheisel.
Neuheisel, who was fired last spring after a gambling tift, has been successful at both Washington and Colorado, and will no doubt be back in the mix as a possible Division I-A coach for next season and beyond, due to the complete lack of punishments offered up the NCAA.
An incredibly smart coach and voracious recruiter, who's available to practice law in Arizona and Washington D.C. , it makes sense that he will follow the Mike Price road to redemption shortly.
Look for his name to pop up for any and all openings in the next few months for schools in the Big 12, Pac-10, MWC and others.
The NCAA did, however, offer this evaluation of his former school.
The NCAA, meanwhile, accused Washington of a lack of institutional control, "an atmosphere in which violations of NCAA regulations recurred," because of a widespread lack of understanding or application of the association's rules.
Comments:
posted on October 20, 2004 2:16 PM — 209.16.242.81 — link — abuse?Pete Holiday said:
Yeah... makes perfect sense... let's not punish the people breaking the rules.
Maybe this sort of thing could work in larger society. For example, when someone commits murder, why not put the CEO of the company that they work for on trail instead? I bet that would really cut down on the crime rate...
...at least to the extent that NCAA sanctions have cut down on the amount of impropriety that goes on in collegiate sports.
posted on October 20, 2004 8:12 PM — 66.186.252.13 — link — abuse?
Pete- you're aware that he got written clearance from UW's compliance officer, right?
Seems to me that if I ask a person in authority, and indeed a person whose specific function it is to determine compliance (hence the "compliance officer" title) if something I plan to do is a rules violation, and they say no, then I can reasonably assume that my actions are acceptable. And I shouldn't be held responsible, much less fired and/or sanctioned, if it turns out to be a rules violation. The compliance officer, on the other hand, probably should be.
posted on October 21, 2004 4:03 PM — 209.16.242.81 — link — abuse?
If your lawyer tells you it's legal to kill someone, are you going to get off the hook when you do it?
No, you don't. Furthermore, the compliance officer is not an authority, (s)he is an advisor. The NCAA is the authority. If you're a successful head football coach of a major Division IA program, you should know the rules yourself without having to rely solely on the word of the compliance officer.
Should the compliance officer get off free? No... (s)he should get fired as well -- maybe even forbidden by the NCAA to work as a compliance officer for X years... but just because more than one person screwed up doesn't mean Neuheisel didn't do anything wrong.
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dave frey said:
posted on October 20, 2004 1:10 PM — 65.116.13.217 — link — abuse?Awesome. That's the first sensible thing I can remember the NCAA doing in quite some time.