Oregon ruling and what it may mean for UM

[GrizBacker04]

This tweet is fantastic: Brett McMurphy @McMurphyESPN - Oregon only loses 2 scholarships, no bowl ban. In other news: Cleveland State just got the death penalty

Granted, Chip Kelly did get an 18-month show clause, but who cares? He's in the NFL and it has NO affect on Oregon at all.

Now, I could be counted among the minority, but paying a Texas-based scout $25,000 to essentially help funnel players to your program is worse than anything (that we know of) that UM has done/could be being investigated for.

Hopefully this means punishment along the same lines for UM. A loss of a scholarship or two, 2-3 years probation, reduction in number of official visit days, etc. That would all be palatable to me. Even vacating wins is fine with me. But a postseason ban would suck, because for one the NCAA would be punishing players who had nothing to do with what happened in the past AND from what is known, a postseason ban would be too stiff of a punishment. ESPECIALLY considering how light of penalties Oregon received.

Of course, hopefully UM is not the NCAA's Cleveland State in this case.

 

[grizchamp]

I just finished reading the entire report. Oregon didn't get off easy, they got about what they should have received. Oregon didn't really do anything that was incredibly egregious. They failed to monitor and report a few things, but what got them into trouble was the actions of the recruiting service. Every major college in the country pays these services and it is in the NCAA bylaws as to the proper procedure for it. Paying $25,000 to a recruiting service isn't against the rules. Failing to monitor and report the actions of said service however is. By failing to monitor that activities of the service, the service eventually crossed the line and became an agent of the university. Much in the same way that we were sent notice that we are representatives of the university because we buy season tickets so we can't be giving free hot dogs out to athletes. (I'm not saying more was or was not going on at UM, its just a comparison) It wasn't Oregon's direct actions that got the ducks into trouble it was the recruiting service's actions and Oregon's failure to oversee them that caused the issues. Other than that there was nothing more than a few too many phone calls by staff members who were not coaches and shouldn't have been calling. Really nothing to see here.

 

[GrizBacker04]

Another positive note from the Oregon news: Andy_Staples: COI member Greg Sankey (SEC Exec. Assoc. Commish) praised Oregon's cooperation. They usually take it easier on schools that cooperate.

Montana, from all accounts, has been extremely cooperative during the entire process.

I do feel Oregon got off relatively unscathed. One scholarship loss per season for two years is nothing, and the probation is technically nothing unless they screw up again. Also, the reduced visits doesn't really matter because there are tons of ways around that, beginning with the giant Elite Nike camp held two hours up the road, giving high school prospects the convenient opportunity to drive down for an "unofficial" visit.

And in regards to the recruiting service/agent with Oregon, it is pretty safe to assume that this individual was trying to steer players to Oregon in exchange for funds and that Oregon knew it was essentially dealing with a player agent, which was the reason they did not report it. To say it was not Oregon's direct action is laughable. Not monitoring said recruiting service and filing necessary reports is a direct action of Oregon. Once the recruiting service crossed the line, they could have made the choice not to associate themselves with that individual. Oregon chose not to.

 

[wbtfg]

Oregon makes the NCAA a lot of Money.

Hard to predict what that corrupt organization is going to do.
http://outkickthecoverage.com/former-oregon-coach-chip-kelly-winsagain.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[grizchamp]

Another positive note from the Oregon news: Andy_Staples: COI member Greg Sankey (SEC Exec. Assoc. Commish) praised Oregon's cooperation. They usually take it easier on schools that cooperate.

Montana, from all accounts, has been extremely cooperative during the entire process.

I do feel Oregon got off relatively unscathed. One scholarship loss per season for two years is nothing, and the probation is technically nothing unless they screw up again. Also, the reduced visits doesn't really matter because there are tons of ways around that, beginning with the giant Elite Nike camp held two hours up the road, giving high school prospects the convenient opportunity to drive down for an "unofficial" visit.

And in regards to the recruiting service/agent with Oregon, it is pretty safe to assume that this individual was trying to steer players to Oregon in exchange for funds and that Oregon knew it was essentially dealing with a player agent, which was the reason they did not report it. To say it was not Oregon's direct action is laughable. Not monitoring said recruiting service and filing necessary reports is a direct action of Oregon. Once the recruiting service crossed the line, they could have made the choice not to associate themselves with that individual. Oregon chose not to.

Oh, I don't disagree that they could have and or should have dissociated themselves from it. Maybe direct action wasn't the word I was looking for. "Initial" maybe? The service broke the rule and oregon failed to do anything about it. I think if this were the University handing out $25,000 envelopes to players upon signing day then the outcome would have been a little/lot more encompassing.

 

[GrizBacker04]

Oregon makes the NCAA a lot of Money.

Hard to predict what that corrupt organization is going to do.
http://outkickthecoverage.com/former-oregon-coach-chip-kelly-winsagain.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That is the scary thing. Hopefully the NCAA doesn't view few hot dogs at the tailgates the same way it viewed Bruce Pearl having a BBQ. Of course, Pearl lied about said BBQ while Oregon happily admitted to paying a shady individual 25K to send the Ducks players. That, apparently, makes all the difference in the world!

 

[EverettGriz]

Oregon makes the NCAA a lot of Money.

Hard to predict what that corrupt organization is going to do.
http://outkickthecoverage.com/former-oregon-coach-chip-kelly-winsagain.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is what keeps me awake at night.

 

[grizchamp]

Oregon makes the NCAA a lot of Money.

Hard to predict what that corrupt organization is going to do.
http://outkickthecoverage.com/former-oregon-coach-chip-kelly-winsagain.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This is what keeps me awake at night.

If this keeps you up at night, then you are taking life far too seriously.

 

[GrizBacker04]

Another positive note from the Oregon news: Andy_Staples: COI member Greg Sankey (SEC Exec. Assoc. Commish) praised Oregon's cooperation. They usually take it easier on schools that cooperate.

Montana, from all accounts, has been extremely cooperative during the entire process.

I do feel Oregon got off relatively unscathed. One scholarship loss per season for two years is nothing, and the probation is technically nothing unless they screw up again. Also, the reduced visits doesn't really matter because there are tons of ways around that, beginning with the giant Elite Nike camp held two hours up the road, giving high school prospects the convenient opportunity to drive down for an "unofficial" visit.

And in regards to the recruiting service/agent with Oregon, it is pretty safe to assume that this individual was trying to steer players to Oregon in exchange for funds and that Oregon knew it was essentially dealing with a player agent, which was the reason they did not report it. To say it was not Oregon's direct action is laughable. Not monitoring said recruiting service and filing necessary reports is a direct action of Oregon. Once the recruiting service crossed the line, they could have made the choice not to associate themselves with that individual. Oregon chose not to.

Oh, I don't disagree that they could have and or should have dissociated themselves from it. Maybe direct action wasn't the word I was looking for. "Initial" maybe? The service broke the rule and oregon failed to do anything about it. I think if this were the University handing out $25,000 envelopes to players upon signing day then the outcome would have been a little/lot more encompassing.

I guess the other question is which party pushed the other to break the rule? Was the agent following the rules and then after Oregon paid him 25K, he started to break the rules because Oregon essentially said "we'll give you cash if you get us players?" 25K is a bit steep of a price to pay a recruiting service for info such as 40 times, height, weight, etc., when a lot of that information is readily available on the web. I certainly feel, as you can tell, that Oregon knew what it was doing and expected a return on its "investment." The Ducks weren't wronged by recruiting service that decided to go rogue. They got caught trying to pay someone with heavy influence on players to get those players to go to Oregon.

And yes, it happens ALL THE TIME, especially with AAU coaches and basketball. Oregon was dumb enough to send a check instead of paying with cash. What is that, rule number 1 when cheating? Pay in cash, not check.

 

[Jaredkuehn]

I'd argue that simply being investigated by the NCAA for two years turned out to be more "punishment" than the NCAA's actual punishment.

I have a feeling I'll be saying the same thing about UM when we get final word from the NCAA. The investigation (I believe) resulted in the dismissal of Pflugrad and O'day and has put the program in limbo until the investigation is complete, and punishments are served.

My opinion is that the damage has already been done. Unless there are major infractions that we don't know about, any NCAA punishment at this point will have limited impact on the program.

 

[curiousobserver]

Interesting read.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2013/07/canzano_mike_glazier_is_most_i.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Canzano: Mike Glazier is most influential in Oregon sports for steering Ducks through NCAA investigation
By John Canzano, The Oregonian
on July 14, 2013 at 5:00 AM, updated July 14, 2013 at 10:58 AM

".....Glazier is an attorney at the law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King. The 60-year-old runs their Overland Park, Kan., office, and has four other attorneys and a former college compliance official on his team. He previously worked seven years for the NCAA enforcement arm, and is now better known in college circles as "The Cleaner" for his work helping universities work through dicey NCAA investigations.

If we're measuring in-state juice right now, Glazier is No. 1. He was hired by the University of Oregon to be their legal point man during the NCAA investigation into the Ducks football program....."