Fraud fallout: Asterisk may make Bowden's wins chase an ugly race
Another day at Florida State, another messy NCAA oil spill. They're used to them in Tallahassee.
But FSU going on probation (again) was not close to being the main news Friday when the school went on probation (again).
Academic fraud. Sixty-one athletes. Crooked academic advisors.
You're surprised? Florida State now is tied for the second-most major infractions cases (seven) in history. That's one behind Arizona State and Southern Methodist, a school you might be familiar with for its death penalty history.
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| Florida State will fight tooth and nail to protect Bobby Bowden's reputation. (Getty Images) |
Messin' with Bowden's 382 career victories (one behind Joe Paterno on the all-time list)? Now we have a problem. A big one in Tally. Florida State is going to appeal. That's a certainty. Early on, president T.K. Wetherell threatened legal action -- legal action against the NCAA.
That's the kind of emotion stirred up when the face of FSU's Mt. Rushmore is nicked. The NCAA Committee on Infractions knew exactly what it was doing when it assessed penalties that may lead to Florida State having to vacate up to 14 of Bowden's victories. It knows that such a penalty could effectively end the race between Bowden and Joe Paterno. It would attach an asterisk beside Bowden's name in his chase for arguably the sport's most hallowed record. The committee has to know that Bowden basically has two years left in his career. Florida State will owe coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher $5 million if Bowden doesn't step down by that soft deadline in 2011.
It had to know all this because its report stated, "the violations clearly warranted a vacation penalty." Only at the NCAA does "a vacation" mean jail.
For years this has been a race-to-the-grave between Joe and Bobby. It was their last, great competition since neither wanted to retire and hand the other guy what might end up an unreachable record. You don't need McDreamy to tell you both legends might not have much time left in their current jobs. Both coaches are on record as being afraid to quit lest they accelerate the same fate suffered by the legend they passed. Alabama's Bear Bryant died in 1983, a month after his last game.
The committee has to know it's inviting a crap storm. If it didn't it's either dim or lying. The sanctity of the coaching wins mark in college football is comparable to baseball's home run record. Now both marks might be stained by asterisks and wrongdoing. However, in this case, it is an institution's wrongdoing (FSU), not an individual's (Bowden).
Throughout its history, the NCAA cops haven't been able to separate school and coach. Nowhere in the Infractions report is Bowden mentioned, much less blamed. In fact, the NCAA went out of its way to state that Florida State never "knowingly played ineligible players."
Despite that, one could make the case Florida State has fostered a culture of NCAA chiseling going back to 1968. That's when the first of those seven major infractions occurred (in men's basketball, by the way). Should Bowden get a pass on this one? Was he responsible for academic fraud involving several of his players? Technically, yes. I asked that question directly to Infractions Committee acting chairman, Dennis Thomas, who answered out of both sides of his mouth.
"Every coach is responsible for what goes on in their program," said Thomas, who added: "Obviously you can't know what goes on in every aspect, every minute, every second, every hour on their campuses."
It's not OK
Bowden is responsible in the same way Bob Stoops was responsible four years ago when eight of his wins were vacated at Oklahoma. That is to say, not much. The infamous Big Red Motors case ended with Oklahoma appealing and Stoops getting his victories back. Back then it was the principle of the thing for Oklahoma.
But this? This is messin' with Bobby. The difference between Florida State being Florida State and a glorified University of Phoenix is one charming, 79-year-old football coach. Like the man he is chasing, Bowden's accomplishments basically poured the concrete for the university. He is its face, its reputation and its history. No wonder FSU wants to lawyer up in order to keep that legacy intact.
Right now that legacy is a fragile porcelain mouse. Forget possibly losing those 14 victories. Even if the NCAA somehow determines that FSU should vacate as few as, say, three wins, The Great Race could be over. How awkward would that be? Bowden could finish ahead of Paterno on the field but forever be behind him everywhere else -- media guides, recruiting material, NCAA records books. It would be up to organizations like the American Football Coaches Association and College Football Hall of Fame to list Bowden ahead of Paterno. Want more awkwardness? They are both honored members of those organizations.
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| Joe Paterno could have a big leg up on Bowden in the all-time wins battle. (Getty Images) |
Try to imagine this eventual listing:
1. Joe Paterno, Penn State, 400 career wins
2. *Bobby Bowden, Florida State, 402
*includes wins on the field. Officially Bowden has 388 victories due to action by the NCAA Committee on Infractions.
It hurts to read that. Florida State could never claim to be the home of the winningest coach in I-A history. That's part of the penalty -- shame. Glorifying its coach? Instead of a recruiting tool, the media guide would be turned into damning evidence.
Case for vacating
It's supposed to hurt. Vacating/forfeiting wins long ago took the place of television penalties. TV bans haven't been handed out with any regularity since the early 1990s. Television penalties not only hurt the offending school but also the opponent and the conference in terms of TV dollars lost.
"If folks really are interested in righting the wrong of winning games, because you won while you were cheating, vacation seems to me a logical thing to do," said Gene Marsh, a former Infractions Committee chairman to the Knight Commission in 2008.
So what's the difference here? Vacating wins would not only hurt Florida State but also a loveable American icon. The NCAA can't do one without affecting the other. That's why there is an appeals committee that seems to have been quite forgiving in recent years.
"We're a little sore about that, I'd say," Marsh also told the Knight Commission.
Let's go back to that similar case in Norman. Oklahoma argued it was proactive, finding the violations and swiftly kicking two prominent players off the team after they took improper benefits from a car dealership. Florida State is essentially making the same we-acted-quickly argument.
Ambiguous report
This is still an open-ended case because of the ambiguity of the Infractions report. One person familiar with the process told me this case was going to be the "defining moment" in determining when a student-athlete is ineligible.
FSU is being asked to look back and determine when those 61 athletes -- including 25 football players -- actually broke the rules. That will determine how many wins are vacated. Usually, the Infractions Committee's report is supposed to end the process. This time the committee threw the case back in FSU's face.
What if the school determines, "Gee, according to our records none of the football players were ineligible? We already suspended 'em last season. Sentence served." Does the NCAA then come back in? And what's the incentive to cooperate with the NCAA when it hammers you? Twice? You can be sure there is a bit of that sentiment floating around among the FSU administration.
As well as the numbers of a few high-priced lawyers. FSU might be No. 2 in all-time major violations but in Tallahassee you don't mess with Bobby, its No. 1
