OSG High: State Title Coach Resigns Over Recruiting/Grades Flap

((HT: AJC/Holcomb))

This one has a lot of moving parts...

First moving part: Steve DeVoursney was the head football coach for the Griffin High (GA) Bears and won the 2013 Class 4A title
Evidence below...
((HT: GPB Sports/GHSA))


But, over the last three years the rivalry between the city school and the county school, Spalding, seems to have escalated to a different level entirely. Under allegations of illegal recruiting of student-athletes and improper academic assistance, DeVoursney and his wife- a science teacher at the school- submitted their resignations.

They were accepted by the Board of Education Thursday evening.
All the shenanigans then kicked into a high gear last fall...

From Holcomb:

The events that prompted the investigation began in September, 2013, when Griffin principal Keith Simmons questioned the legality of the transfer of a student-athlete from his school to county rival Spalding High. The schools are located five miles apart.

Simmons wrote a letter to the GHSA that asserted that the transfer student from Griffin was not living legally in the Spalding district, according to the report. Simmons speculated in the letter that Spalding football coach Nick Davis illegally recruited the student-athlete.

The Spalding principal, in turn, asked for an investigation on a three-year student at Griffin who was ineligible, but went through what was termed a "course recovery" program and became eligible. The Spalding High principal questioned the idea of 18 hours being picked up rather quickly.

And to top it all off, the student whose eligibility was restored was questioned in the investigation and fingered the coach's wife for giving him answers to tests.

Got all this...???
There's a test later on...

No immediate word on whether DeVoursney will pursue any job openings in the central part of the state- where he grew up, won a title as a player, and won a title as a coach. There are still a handful of openings still in the state for the upcoming 2014 season. And the fallout of this is huge...

It also makes the Spalding-Griffin rivalry really nasty from this moment on...

Oke State Addresses Upcoming SI Article

((HT: Newsok.com))

Or, at least, they kinda did...

Head football coach Mike Gundy didn't say anything at his Monday press conference... he just read...
((HT: Oklahoma State Athletics))


But AD Mike Holder did...

The Sports Illustrated article alleges five fronts:

There was an alleged pay-for-play set up by an ex-coach as well as sham jobs...
Widespread academic misconduct...
Selective enforcement of the university drug policy
That the Orange Pride, the hostess staff engaged in sexual activity with recruits
Athletes who were of no use to the program any more were "cast aside..."

The next few days in Stillwater will be interesting...

SEC Media Days Day #1: Will Muschamp Fires Back

For those of you unaware, the football season is just about upon us. And one of the events that makes college football fans...and in particular SEC Football fans heart go aflutter--Media Days.

The SEC's official/unofficial 2013 Season Kickoff began in Hoover, Alabama Wednesday afternoon. The event, which now draws over 1,000 accredited media types and hundreds of fans is a bit of a circus, 16 coaches with 2 players each taking turns shuffling between multiple media "Group" rooms and individual network interviews.

Batting leadoff today--Florida coach Will Muschamp, who while optimistic about his team, was a little less than thrilled at some shots taken by "Another Program" not in the conference.

That program, Ohio St., led by former Gator coach Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes are alleged to have alerted the NCAA twice to alleged recruiting violations---neither of which were proven and at least one of which may have cost Florida a recruit. Meyer claims it was his schools compliance department that turned the Gators in. And he knew nothing about it.

Read more about those allegations RIGHT HERE

Muschamp took a minute during an early side session and fired back, saying in part; "We appreciate our friends from Ohio educating us on NCAA rules. They certainly know a thing or two about them"

Oooohhh....burn.

And a little later in the main session with writers, he took a very indirect shot at Meyer and the heat Meyer has been getting regarding discipline when he was in Gainesville.

Q- "How much is a head coach responsible for the off-the field behavior of its players? Can a head coach know everything that's going on and control that?

A--"Well, you're 100% responsible. When you sign an athlete to come to the University of Florida, I look at his parents, guardians, whoever is important to him in his life, tell them it's my job to be an extension of what's already happened at home. But you're a hundred percent responsible for the young man. Everything that happens."

"I can't possibly know everything that happens every single night with our football team. You also can't stick your head in the sand and pretend everything is okay either. You need to be very aware of the kind of guys your guys are hanging out with....But you are 100% responsible for every student-athlete on your football team"

University of Oregon Gets Sanctions/Wrist Slap

((ht: goducks.com))

So, along with the other things going on this morning, the University of Oregon learned what the NCAA has decided to do with the charges of recruiting violations and using a non-compliant recruiting service (Wille Lyles).

And it's not nearly as bad as it probably could have been.

Here's the abridged version:

The NCAA found 6 issues--

1) Recruiting violations by the owner of a recruiting/scouting service how became a representative of the school's athletic interests
2) Use of said service which didn't comply with the NCAA legislation
3) Impermissible calls by non-coaching staff members
4) Too many football coaches
5) Former head coach (Chip Kelly) failed to monitor
6) Failure to monitor by the institution

And your slap on the wrist/penalties:

1) Public reprimand and censure
2) 3 Years probation, starting today (June 26th, 2013)
3) Loss of one scholarship for the next 2-years
4) Loss of 4 'Paid Visits' by coaching staff to recruits
5) Loss of 6 'Football Evaluation Days' from 42 to 36
6) No subscription recruiting services during probation
7) The recruiting service provider (Lyles) will be disassociated from the school (already happened)

And the penalty to former coach Chip Kelly, who now coaches the Philadelphia Eagles:

--An 18 month "Show-Cause" penalty, which means he can't coach in the NCAA until the end of next year. Not that he would want to now...

GoDucks.com provides the entire 28-page document RIGHT HERE

So--essentially, the NCAA is saying, "Yeah, you did some bad things, but we are going to slap your wrists". There is no bowl ban. There's minimal loss of scholarships and the NCAA can say "You were bad". And they get to say, without saying it, that it's Chip Kelly's fault.

What's the point?

This does little if anything to slow down Nike U/Oregon.



UPDATE:

Here's a statement released by former head coach Chip Kelly:

“Now that the NCAA has concluded their investigation and penalized the University of Oregon and its football program, I want to apologize to the University of Oregon, all of its current and former players and their fans.  I accept my share of responsibility for the actions that led to the penalties. As I have I stated before, the NCAA investigation and subsequent ruling had no impact on my decision to leave Oregon for Philadelphia. I have also maintained throughout that I had every intention to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation, which I did."