SMU has gone to four bowl games since their “death penalty” and are 3 and 1 in that time. Not quite the national champion but…
SMU is no longer at the top of one of the premier conferences in college football (the old SWC). It is an also ran in a second tier G5 conference (AAC). Baylor is a perennial contender in the Big 12 and Penn State is a better than average Big Ten team. In the 2014-2015 school year, Baylor generated the third most revenue in the Big 12 at just north of one hundred million, Penn State generated one hundred and thirty million, good for fourth in the Big Ten and SMU generated twelve point five million which put it in the middle of the AAC. Virtually all athletic revenue in college sports is generated by football. And that is why the death penalty hasn’t been imposed since SMU. The NCAA is and has always been primarily concerned with generating revenue for itself. It does not want to turn that money spigot off unless they have to.
Ken Starr resigned as Chancellor. Is it naive to hope he didn’t get a very nice golden parachute?
Ken Starr had been demoted from President to Chancellor only. Now he’s resigned that too:
Seven Baylor recruits want to decommit:
If anyone thinks that other colleges do not have problems with some of their athletes acting inappropriately, I totally disagree. Some of these players at Baylor never played one down or set foot on the field. Each university needs to have clear-cut guidelines on what steps they will take when an allegation is made. (who to notify, what suspension if any will occur while case is investigated by the police, etc.) This will allow all of the players, coaches, and administrators to know what is expected of them and what will happen in the event they break the rules. On the other hand, these players are students and until they are proven guilty there has to be some privacy interests. (privacy of the victims must be considered as well so they feel comfortable coming forward)
Players, coaches and administrators knew what was expected of them and broke the rules anyway.
NCAA should make up for the shortcomings in punishing Penn State. Give Baylor the death penalty for the next two years.
One that “never played a down” had a well known violence problem and dismissed from a school where they are not known to be overly harsh on athletes.
The death penalty isn’t for a specific time. It’s DEATH.
^ I believe it is also only for repeat offenders of the same rule, so it may be the NCAA can’t impose it. In any event, this is Baylor’s problem, and Baylor should be primarily responsible for cleaning it up.
Players for 2017 except one decommit and 6-7 players for 2016 decommit. The death of the program has started
Ken Starr still a law professor. Needs to go all the say. He is still trying to find a way to stay some how some way.
I feel bad for my daughter because it’s a bad year to say you are going to Baylor but the bottom line is she chose Baylor to get a great education, not attend the school with the best football team. The school is under so much scrutiny now she’s probably safer than before. I think any young girl attending college should be required to watch the documentary The Hunting Grounds. We have sat down and had a frank discussion with our daughter that if anything happens to her she is to call us and the police not campus security, whether she goes to Baylor or anywhere else. For those parents that think the problem is only at Baylor you are kidding yourselves. Problems like this are on every campus in America. I was raped as a college student at Cal State Fullerton. My daughter was accepted at TCU, University of Alabama and Baylor. She will proudly be going to Baylor in the fall because of the merit scholarship, financial assistance she is receiving and most importantly the education she will receive and the stellar way they have treated her from the second she accepted her admittance. For the boys who suddenly want out of their letter of commitment, let them go. We choose not to vilify every student and administrator at Baylor because of the horrible actions of a few. Fire them, prosecute them to the full extent of the law but don’t condemn an entire campus.
@twoinanddone Could you clarify?
The SMU death penalty was only for 1 year, only one season was cancelled. All players were released and could go to other programs which blew up the program. SMU could not field a team the next year even though they were allowed t do so. For the next 4 years, they lost so many scholarships they weren’t competitive. IMO, the death penalty didn’t work as the NCAA had hoped. It was very harsh on the innocent players.
You can’t say the penalty is for 2 years and then things will return to normal. It doesn’t work that way.
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Why doesn’t the NCAA punish coaches and administrators? Does punishing the innocent on the team help? It also probably hurts kids who would receive financial aid when the school coffers suffer. Let’s try and keep the punishment where. it belongs.
@twoinanddone Thanks for clarifying. I thought that you had meant that the death penalty was permanent, which of course is not the case. Thanks for bringing up SMU.
Of course, the program has never returned to what it once was. But that was the penalty for what happened. I also think the goal of the death penalty is to make it so that things don’t return to what they were before.
Penn State should’ve 100% gotten the death penalty. What they allowed to happen was disgusting and for the rest of time, Penn State will be marred by the names Jerry Sandusky and Joe Paterno (there are still people who believe Joe Paterno didn’t know and did nothing wrong).
As for Baylor, theit ineptitude was systematic. Outside of Art Briles and Ken Starr, there are many people to blame. And in this case, unlike Penn State, the players aren’t innocent. Some of whom were actual predators, others were enablers.
The NCAA is very inconsistent with its penalties and the results. If you’re interested, watch the 30 for 30 documentaries on ESPN/Netflix on ‘The U’ (U of Miami), SMU, Penn State. Even a lot of the documentaries on high school recruiting are interesting on how the colleges swoop in and promise things.
@twoinanddone Thanks for the recommendation. I remember that The U was pretty big when it came out. Never got to see it.