The Rest of College Football

[entropy]

By Graham Watson

As former LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu flies all over the country meeting with NFL coaches to hopefully secure his football future at the end of the month, he?s also sharing the harsh realities of his past.
Mathieu was high at LSU ? a lot.
Mathieu, a 2011 Heisman Trophy Finalist who missed the 2012 season after coach Les Miles booted him off the team for a failed drug test, told one NFL coach that during the course of his LSU career he failed more drug tests than he could count.
"I quit counting at 10. I really don't know," Miles told the NFL coach, according to USA Today.
Yet Mathieu was suspended once for a drug-related offense and then dismissed last year. There were no other suspensions during that time, especially during the height of his epic run to the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
"If he flunked 10 tests before they suspended him, it shows that he got no kind of help," the coach told USA Today on the condition of anonymity.
There?s really no excuse for this. Mathieu needed help and LSU should have cared more about the player than his game. Why did it take so long for LSU to finally do something?
Mathieu went into rehab following his dismissal but was arrested for marijuana possession in October. That?s when he decided to get clean for good. He became a regular student at LSU, attended games, class and worked out on his own to put himself in a position to woo NFL scouts.
According to USA Today, Mathieu told coaches stress contributed to his drug use. That stress will only be exacerbated in the NFL where he has access to more money and a slew of bad influences.
"The stress isn't going away," the anonymous coach told USA Today. "It's clearly going to go up. They've got to deal with that."
If a team does take a chance on Mathieu, he?ll likely be subjected to stringent drug testing and counseling until he can prove that he?s truly cleaned up his life ? all the things LSU should have done the minute it realized Mathieu had a problem.

Post Extras:

[entropy]

Another fine example of SEC morality...

[entropy]

Reports: 'Major' violations occurred
Updated: April 16, 2013, 4:45 AM ET
ESPN.com news services
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Documents released by the University of Oregon show the school and the NCAA agree "major" violations were committed by the football program, both The Oregonian and Portland, Ore., television station KATU reported Monday.

The documents focus heavily on Will Lyles, who ran a recruiting and scouting service and has been widely reported to be at the center of the investigation, according to the reports. Most of the alleged violations cited occurred during the tenure of former Ducks coach Chip Kelly, who left Oregon in January to become the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Both The Oregonian and KATU received the documents after filing a public records request.

"There were underlying major violations coupled with failure to monitor violations involving the head coach (2009 through 2011) and the athletics department (2008-2011)," NCAA enforcement staff wrote in the report, according to KATU.

However, the documents also state NCAA enforcement staff said they had "no finding of lack of institutional control and no finding of unethical conduct," key points when it comes time for punishment to be considered, KATU reported. Oregon is expected to appear before the NCAA's committee on infractions sometime this year.

The university gave a statement to The Oregonian on Monday night following the documents' release that read: "The review is ongoing until the NCAA Committee on Infractions issues its final report. The integrity of the process and our continued full cooperation with the NCAA prohibits us from publicly discussing the specifics of this matter."

[entropy]

and oregon will get a wrist slap..

[Jeff Buchanan]

"Most of the alleged violations cited occurred during the tenure of former Ducks coach Chip Kelly, who left Oregon in January to become the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles."

Following the path of Pete Carroll, among others.

I think the Ducks will get more than a wrist slap but Phill Knight has the clout and the ego to make things difficult for Emmert and his band of dumb asses at the NCAA.

But the central figure, Chip Kelley, will escape accountability for his misdeeds while kids who had nothing to do with his cheating get hammered.

That is so wrong.

[Wild Hoss]

"Most of the alleged violations cited occurred during the tenure of former Ducks coach Chip Kelly, who left Oregon in January to become the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles."

Following the path of Pete Carroll, among others.

I think the Ducks will get more than a wrist slap but Phill Knight has the clout and the ego to make things difficult for Emmert and his band of dumb asses at the NCAA.

But the central figure, Chip Kelley, will escape accountability for his misdeeds while kids who had nothing to do with his cheating get hammered.

That is so wrong.

Chip escapes, but he's only been gone a few months. If current players- and that includes pretty much all of them- were accepting bribes from him they deserve to be punished as well.

I knew they were dirty as soon as they started signing players from the south with SEC offers. No kid from Alabama is turning down Auburn for Oregon without bags of cash, no matter how "hip" UO purports itself to be.

[iam416]

There doesn't appear to be any hint of LOIC and FTM hasn't been mentioned. They're not going to get hit particularly hard.

The use of "major" tells us exactly nothing. USC had major violations. M had major violations. OSU had major violations.

Absent a FtM, hard to see much more a small scholarship reduction.

[The Oracle]

Yup, specifically said there was no LOIC. Not gonna be much.

[Rob F]

But the central figure, Chip Kelley, will escape accountability for his misdeeds while kids who had nothing to do with his cheating get hammered.

That is so wrong.

Like so many other cheaters before him (yes, including the "Senator"), Kelley escapes any and all penalties that he should be subject to. Sure, he won't be able to go back to any college football-level job, but that is no penalty whatsoever, as he can make tons and tons of $$$$ in the NFL in a short amount of time, even if he falls flat on his face in Philly and coaches his way out of a job there.

I have no idea what the solution should be, but obviously neither does the NCAA and those making big bucks heading up that corrupt and antiquated organization.

[lineygoblue]

I have no idea what the solution should be, but obviously neither does the NCAA and those making big bucks heading up that corrupt and antiquated organization.

One thing they could do is get some sort of agreement with the NFL, that would allow penalties received from the NCAA to be enforced in the NFL.

But that won't happen, because the NFL is just as greedy and corrupt as the NCAA.

[The Oracle]

...aaaaand why would the NFL care what they did in college? If they can coach they can coach.

[DennisT]

Auburn/Oregon national championship game. Yeesh.

[iam416]

aaaaand why would the NFL care what they did in college? If they can coach they can coach.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Of course, the NFL did inexplicably suspend TP and, for that matter, Coach Tressel. So, the precedent is there, even if it's a friggin' horrible one.

There's no other profession where that would happen. You may have to explain yourself at a job interview. But ultimaely it's up to the potential future employer to make the call. As it f'n should be.

[The Oracle]

Well, the TP suspension is a moot point anyway. They can give him a career suspension and it won't matter.

[iam416]

True. I'm really looking forward to the TP-Denard UFL battles. Hopefully Zanesville gets a team and I can check them out.

However, I doubt it was moot to him. He was, more or less, fined by the NFL. And whether I can imagine it or not, he's actually getting paid by an NFL franchise, so a suspension actually would matter to him.