Add Miami to the list of major college football programs engulfed in scandal. Between the BCS and the charade that is amateurism in modern collegiate athletics, the NCAA clearly faces a situation that calls for some serious reform. But as long as the schools that comprise the NCAA continue to profit from collegiate athletics, the impetus for a necessary reform will never reach critical mass.
If the latest scandal involving the often-controversial Hurricane program isn't the breaking point for an NCAA overhaul, then such a breaking point will never come. The prostitution, the drugs, the drinking, the crime, the sex—this Miami scandal is about as bad as it could possibly get.
As much as football has done for the academic standing of many institutions, it seems we might be getting to a point at which the money football brings in is not worth the cost of compromising the university's integrity. Unfortunately, many within the school's administration have gotten caught up in the false perception that football can and should control the reputation of the institution.
Players don't need to be paid any more than they already are within the confines of the rules and this scandal provides plenty of evidence for this point. Under the current system, student athletes may receive not only a free education, but also stipends for books, housing, food and incidentals. Strippers, yacht parties and nights on the town are not included and thus when we talk about ""paying"" players, this is where we are thinking our educational dollars should be sent.
However, there does need to be a serious crackdown on the compensation packages offered to administrators and athletic department officials who have taken advantage of the rules and profited enormously from the talents of the students under their authority.
These coaches and administrators should be held to a higher standard than anyone else. They are responsible for the corruption of the system, so they should bear the burden of fixing up this mess. Program-wide punishment will never serve as deterrence as long as those adults who perpetrate the violations are allowed to walk away on a golden platform, if they are even required to walk away at all.
The only way to start fixing college athletics is to hold each and every coach, administrator, and support staffer fully liable, personally and financially, for the integrity of their program. Whether they knowingly allow violations or not, these individuals should face not only the automatic loss of their job, but a fine in the amount of 50 percent of the compensation they received during the time that elapsed between the first proven violation and the time of their dismissal.
Unless and until those involved are fired and have paid their fines in full (to a non-athletic scholarship fund at the university), the program in question will be ineligible to compete, period. If further punishment is deemed necessary, then it may be assessed, but for any major violation that is proven, this must be the absolute standard.
It is certainly harsh, but it needs to be when it comes to the actions of the very individuals who have for years profited off of rules they themselves continue to be in charge of administrating.
Programs will not only have to evaluate their actions, but also their personnel. Coaches with a history of controversy or corruption? Hire at your own risk. Players potentially connected to agents or prone to accepting illegal benefits? Don't recruit them.
Compliance in this world of strict enforcement would not be easy, but the costs of overlooking even the most minor of holes within this system would far outweigh the potential benefits available to a program from attempting to circumvent it.
Instead of turning back the dials on NCAA enforcement, we have to turn them up, and quick.
Do you agree with these harsh penalties? Let Max know at max.sternberg@yahoo.com.
