Outgoing Ohio State University President Gordon Gee took a shot at illiteracy in the Southeastern Conference a few months ago. But Gee and others could learn an important thing from the SEC, and that is cooperation.
Mississippi State University escaped serious penalties from the NCAA last week because the university cooperated with the NCAA. The Bulldogs still lost four scholarships (two in 2012-13 and two in 2013-14) and four paid visits. They also got two years of probation. Most of the penalties were self-imposed by the university.
The Bulldogs got into trouble when a booster (alleged to be Denton Herring) helped a recruit get a car, gave him cash and offered him $6,000 if he didn't take visits to other schools. Mississippi State said the athlete (defensive back Will Redmond) has been reinstated after paying back $2,660 in benefits, forfeiting a year of eligibility and sitting out the first five games of the 2013 season.
Ohio State, on the other hand, fought the NCAA over tattoos during the Jim Tressell era and ended up sitting at home after an undefeated season last year. Instead of playing Notre Dame for a national championship, the Buckeyes could only watch as Alabama raised the SEC's seventh-straight title trophy.
MSU followed South Carolina lead when it comes to dealing with the NCAA. When the Gamecocks were in trouble over improper hotel rooms for players and recruits, South Carolina cooperated with the NCAA and received less severe penalties. To be fair, neither head coach Dan Mullen (Mississippi State) nor Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) were directly linked to the violations.
Southern California fought the NCAA over the Reggie Bush scandal, and they had the hammer brought down on their program as well. USC would have been better off cooperating instead of fighting.
MSU helped itself out by quickly getting rid of former assistant coach Angelo Mirando and disassociating themselves from the booster. In fact, Mirando might have gotten the most severe punishment after being hit with a one year show-cause penalty.
A show-cause penalty is an order saying that for a set period of time, any NCAA penalties imposed on a coach involved in major rules violations at a university's athletic program will remain in force if he is hired by any other NCAA member institution. If the school wishes to avoid the NCAA restrictions imposed on that individual, it must appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions and "show cause" as to why it should not be penalized for hiring him.
Most assistant coaches hit with a show-cause penalty aren't rehired in the college ranks at the Division I level. There are exceptions, of course, but normally these coaches have to start at lower levels of coaching and work their way back up.
Cooperating with the NCAA, like MSU and South Carolina, helps. Fighting only causes the NCAA look harder for more violations and drag out investigations, further hurting a program.
So maybe the SEC isn't as dumb as Gordon Gee thinks the conference is after all. Mississippi State can still play in a bowl game this postseason--something Ohio State couldn't do last year.
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