When Coaches Attack: The Hypocrisy and Inequity of NCAA Athletics

When University of Colorado football coach Rick Neuheisel unexpectedly abandoned his program to take over as coach at the University of Washington in January of 1999, many NCAA football personnel were understandably surprised – but no more than the high-school students Neuheisel personally committed to when he recruited them to play at the University of Colorado. In the four years hence, Neuheisel has been formally reprimanded on several occasions, received and lied about other job interviews while at Washington, and has been given a pay raise – twice. In the meanwhile, the athletes he recruited have had one choice before them – to stay and play for a coach they didn’t ask to, or to transfer to another school and lose a precious year of eligibility.

However, believe it or not, this is an example of a situation the NCAA handled well.

In October of 2002, the NCAA placed sanctions on Colorado’s football programs as a penalty for infractions committed while Neuheisel was coach. The Buffaloes received two years probation, along with limits on recruiting activities and a reduction in available scholarships during that time. None of these penalties are out of the ordinary, but one additional one was: The University of Washington football program was also punished for the infractions of their current head coach at his former school. Neuheisel was barred from off-campus recruiting efforts until May 31st, 2003. This is one of the few cases in which the NCAA has decided to punish an individual violator, regardless of their current employer or position.

This charming little tale illustrates one of the primary inequities of the NCAA’s current system of scholarships and commitments: the players are bound to their signatures, which are often made based on a coach’s word, but the coaches themselves are not bound in any way. Contracts can be bought out, essentially offering coaches the luxury of working wherever and whenever they please, while players are required to honor their commitments, whether the coach they committed to is still there or not. Until the Neuheisel case, coaches were even usually able to leave a school in disarray, confident in the knowledge that any sins committed there would not be revisited upon them, but rather upon the school they just left – leaving them free, and even encouraged to commit them again.

This week, Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams left the players he coached weeks ago in the NCAA men’s championship game to take over the program at his alma mater, North Carolina. If there was ever an understandable move made by a coach – this was it. North Carolina’s reputation is legendary, and Williams is returning to his personal and professional roots. After turning down the job nearly three years ago to stay at Kansas, it would be impossible to accuse Williams of any self-aggrandizement by accepting the post he’s coveted for his entire professional life.

That said; this isn’t simply a happy story about a prodigal son returning with a clarion call. There are victims here, and some of them haven’t even graduated from high school yet. David Padgett, an 18 year-old 6’11” center from Reno, Nevada, was one of the most highly recruited players in America. He chose to attend Kansas, primarily because of Williams’ presence. His father, Pete Padgett, was asked about his son’s rationale by CNNSI.com:

“David was comfortable with him (Williams). He laid it out on the table, the success, the style of play, the guys they were bringing in and the guys that were there now … I think that last Monday visit might have swung it. I think that’s what finally got him.”

Ironically, Padgett’s decision was reported to be between North Carolina and Kansas – but Padgett was concerned that then-Carolina coach Matt Doherty might not stay at the university for Padgett’s entire career, whereas he reasoned such an occurrence was likely with Roy Williams at Kansas.

Yesterday, Pete Padgett was asked about his feelings regarding Williams’ departure from Kansas, and was quoted on ESPN.com:

"Coach (Williams) sat in my living room and sat in my office and said he was going to be there for four years to coach David (Padgett). It's just frustrating. David is reeling. It broke his heart. I guess the reality of it set in when David got home and turned on the TV. We're really, really disappointed they didn't contact us. I just don't know what avenue we're going to take. We put 2½ years of intense scrutiny into the recruiting process. We thought we did our homework and did a good job. When a majority of the reason (you choose a school) leaves, it makes you step back and re-evaluate."

Quite a way to start a college career, isn’t it? While most students will look forward to the excitement of attending college and looking towards bright futures with anticipation, David Padgett will likely spend his summer regretting his fateful decision – one that cannot be reversed, despite the circumstances surrounding a decision not of his own making.

Willams himself has said that he felt like a “traitor” leaving Kansas, his players and his recruits. On ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” Tuesday, Williams stated, “You know, it’s a fact, guys, that we can say that the youngsters pick schools, but they also pick coaches…there’s no doubt in my mind that when kids choose where to go to college, the head coach is a huge factor for that – and I don’t think it’s fair for David Padgett to be stuck out there now, and yet, in that National Letter of Intent that they do have to sign, they put in bold print: ‘You are signing with the school, not the coach’ – but that doesn’t make it right… Still, a fact of life is youngsters do sign with schools, but they really want to play for a certain coach…”

Former NFL cornerback Deion Sanders appeared on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Tuesday night and quipped that while attending Florida State, he “majored in eligibility”. The fact of the matter is that it’s quite likely the statement was more accurate than it was humorous. Roy Williams offered an odious counterpoint to that when he off-handedly mentioned on the same episode of “Pardon the Interruption” that when players leave school early for the NBA, coaches don’t have any recourse available to them to replace their star athletes.

That notion is as ridiculous as it is disingenuous. Coaches can hop from university from university at will collecting million-dollar salaries, but when a young athlete tries to leverage their unique skills in an attempt to obtain financial security unreachable for most Americans, they’re the villains? Ludicrous.

Would any administrator at Syracuse University truly believe that the school didn’t get their money’s worth when they granted an athletic scholarship to basketball player Carmelo Anthony? Even if Anthony leaves Syracuse, as expected, to enter the NBA this spring after just one year of classes? The tickets sold and revenue generated at the Carrier Dome and other venues at which Syracuse appeared; the national coverage and merchandise sold all make up for the cost of Anthony’s scholarship a thousand fold – and Anthony is the man most responsible for all of those dollars generated. Make no mistake, dollars drive the NCAA, and every player is transitory grist for that mill.

Williams, Neuheisel, and many other coaches receive their robust salaries to do what they do - advertise their school. That’s the real bottom line. Universities want coaches that can get their programs recognition, get their teams to appear on national television, and get their school’s name in front of prospective students and their families who wouldn’t otherwise consider them.

In a perfect world, all students would choose universities based on their academic credentials, but in this world, that’s simply not the case. Speaking generally, the top high-school players in the country are attending college as a stepping stone to the professional ranks and their multi-million dollar salaries. As a result, the coach they select in college will play a major role in their personal and athletic development to that end. The players know it; the coaches know it; and the universities do too.