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发帖数: 764 | 1 KNOXVILLE -- One of the most important developments in the University of
Tennessee's lengthy case with the NCAA was former coach Lane Kiffin
receiving a failure-to-monitor charge instead of the Volunteers' football
program.
The university's response to the NCAA, which UT released to the Times Free
Press on Monday, explained the details of why Kiffin, who left UT for
Southern Cal after one season, was given the charge. After receiving the
NCAA's Notice of Allegations in February, UT formally responded in May and
went before the Committee on Infractions in June.
Contained in the 190-page document is UT's reply to each of the alleged 10
major infractions against the men's basketball and football programs, the
school's self-imposed two-year probation and the other punitive actions the
school imposed on former and current football and basketball coaching staffs.
While the document vividly describes the downfall of UT's former basketball
staff with transcripts of the conversations former head coach Bruce Pearl
and assistants Tony Jones, Steve Forbes and Jason Shay had with NCAA
investigators in which they admitted to the lies and attempted cover-up that
ultimately led to their firings in March, the football portion of the case
is still shrouded with some mystery.
The NCAA lumped four separate recruiting infractions of a secondary nature
into one major infraction, though two of those violations involving former
assistant David Reaves are heavily redacted to protect the identity of
former or current UT students.
Now the offensive coordinator at New Mexico, Reaves allegedly had UT
students contact football recruits illegally, which UT disputed in its
response, and his involvement in two members of UT's now-defunct Orange
Pride hostess group attending a high school game in South Carolina is the
biggest mystery in this case.
"The university does not believe it is appropriate to cite Kiffin for
failing to monitor Reaves in that instance," the response states. "Rather,
the weight of the evidence is that Reaves acted on his own and without
notice to Kiffin. However, as the head coach, Kiffin was ultimately
responsible for all employees of the football program."
As for the 16 impermissible phone calls during a Jan. 3-9, 2010, contact
period and the impermissible in-person off-campus contact of then UT
recruiting intern Steve Rubio with administrators at St. Thomas Aquinas High
School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., UT said it provided Kiffin with enough
information that he should have prevented the violations.
From December 2008 to January 2010, UT's compliance staff "provided no fewer
than 135 rules-education items" to football coaches and administrators.
"When the university began hiring the former football staff ... the
compliance staff immediately began a campaign to fully educate the staff on
all aspects of NCAA rules," the response states. "The compliance staff was
particularly focused on rules education for the football staff at that time
because several of the football coaching staff members were returning to
college football from careers in the National Football League."
Brad Bertani, UT's associate athletic director for compliance, said he "
vividly" remembered having conversations with the staff "about the
impermissibility of certain contacts" just a month before the illegal calls
were made.
During the 2009 contact and evaluation period, UT's senior associate
athletic director David Blackburn said Bertani and coordinator of football
operations Kyle Strongin "were in frequent communication about the
permissibility of the coaches' activities," according to the response.
Though Strongin also confirmed he relayed Bertani's messages to the coaches,
Kiffin said he "did not recall" the compliance staff providing any specific
information on illegal calls.
On their recruiting trip to Florida, Kiffin brought Rubio because he
attended St. Thomas Aquinas and his familiarity with the area would help
Kiffin more easily navigate the area. Rubio had no contact with any
prospects while in the school, speaking only with his former coaches and
teachers, according to the response.
Blackburn said he specifically told Kiffin on the eve of the trip and Rubio
during the trip that Rubio wasn't allowed to enter any schools. Kiffin said
it was a "rare circumstance," so he allowed Rubio to enter "to see his old
buddies."
"In both instances," the response said, "Kiffin was in a position to have
prevented the violations before they occurred."
UT's ability to pin the failure-to-monitor charge and the illegal recruiting
on former coaches, along with corrective actions and cooperation with the
NCAA, should alleviate the NCAA's pending penalties, which could come
sometime next month.
"The university is deeply disappointed that these violations have occurred,"
the response states. "The depth of the disappointment is matched only by
its commitment to doing whatever is necessary to restore the reputations of
its men's basketball and football programs. That commitment is perhaps most
visibly evidenced by the hiring of Derek Dooley as head football coach and
Cuonzo Martin as head men's basketball coach. Both men have impeccable
reputations for integrity and compliance with governing rules and
regulations." |
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