Let Michigan State AD Mark Hollis be more than a warning to others in college sports
Friday's surprising retirement should be instructive to those putting others at risk for wins
By
Dennis Dodd
•
5 min read
The case can be made that Mark Hollis was considered the best athletic director in the country.
What does that even mean today? In the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal and assessing Hollis' retirement at Michigan State on Friday, we have to tiptoe around words like "pity" for an innovative and influential figure in college sports. We have to look over our shoulders before saying his retirement on Friday is "sad."
But we really don't. We know why he abruptly retired. If Hollis hadn't, that innovator and influencer would have had to resign -- or worse. The testimony from those 168 women in a Michigan courtroom still resonate in our heads. The loss of an athletic director who was in charge during part of the time they were abused by Nassar seems not only destined, but … just.
It's a new day in college athletics -- and society. Those who don't wake up in time will be left behind.
This is not to implicate Hollis. The man is brilliant -- coming up with some of the best athletic innovations of the age. But that's not the story today, nor will it be the entirety of his legacy. Hollis' retirement is another chapter in a tidal wave of change that has swept from Baylor to Hollywood to East Lansing.
Why can't we as humans treat each other decently?
A monster held power over young women for two decades and, until lately, no one but the victims seemingly knew. If those in power didn't know of the abuse, they should have known. Hollis is the latest example.
On Friday, things escalated more when an ESPN report suggested there was a widespread lack of oversight in regards to incidents against females in the athletic department.
But no matter who goes to jail, retires or resigns in the Nassar scandal, the question must be asked, how does it continue to happen? At Penn State. At Baylor. On movie sets. In hotel rooms where parents weren't allowed to see a perverted doctor ply his revolutionary "methods."
"The story," Hollis said on Friday, "is horrible."
In this case, it took those women to bravely come forward to move the story to another level. The same happened with the fall of Harvey Weinstein. The same at Baylor.
And, still, this sort of heinous abuse goes on. In terms of prevention, a large majority of schools are content with an office of general counsel. Lawyers are great for plugging dikes after the fact. They're not efficient -- in general -- at proactively protecting the athletes who sacrifice their bodies and make money for ol' State U.
Neither are the colleges who employ that hidebound practice. If they were, there would have been clear avenues for those young women to report their abuse. There should have persons they could trust and encouraged to report to.
One tragic takeaway from Friday should be: Michigan State is not alone.
"You can delegate jobs, but not responsibility," said one Michigan State administrator.
We're asked to trust schools that swear they've vetted new hires. Credibility continues to erode.
I don't know if Houston's new offensive coordinator Kendal Briles had anything to do with knowing about the abuse of women at Baylor. I do know he's named in a lawsuit, allegedly telling a recruit, "Do you like white women? Because we have a lot of them at Baylor, and they love football players."
I do know he has either been defamed or blamed -- even if it was a blanket statement -- in the Pepper Hamilton report while at Baylor. I still can't get this passage out of my head: "The choices made by football staff and athletics leadership, in some instances, posed a risk to campus safety."
I do know that whatever happens at Houston going forward puts the school president and administration on notice. Is all that worth your job? Because that's what you're going to lose if Briles is implicated in any wrongdoing going forward.
Until the winning percentage takes second place to human decency, those risks will continue to be taken.
Hollis said on numerous occasions Friday he wasn't pressured to retire and that's fine. Debate that among yourselves. But let's refine the blame, as painful has may be for those of us who admired him:
Mark, you should have known. You were in charge. In charge means not only coming up with innovative games on aircraft carriers but going the extra step for those athletes you oversee.
It's hard to write that because Hollis is the consummate professional. But what those women are going through is harder.
On Friday, Hollis reiterated he didn't know about Nassar's wrongdoing until a January 2016 newspaper report. Hollis also told everyone that he has spoken truthfully to the FBI and Michigan State police since the scandal broke wide.
"I'm not running away from anything," Hollis said. "I'm running toward something: comfort, compassion and understanding of suffering in our community."
Of course, he knew about the ESPN report that was coming the very day he announced his retirement.
This story isn't nearly over. There is a criminal investigation to be done in the culpability at not only Michigan State, but also USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee.
It's not just amateur athletics that is on notice. For two straight Januarys, women in the millions have marched nationally in support of their rights as equal humans.
Based on the current state of college athletics, when do those sort of athlete-led demonstrations come to campus?
"Like everyone, you get frustrated there isn't enough dialogue about it," Hollis said at his final press conference.
Those may have been his most compelling words. It's fair to expect a wholesale gutting of all three organizations mentioned above because we still can't treat each other equally. Through history, tyrants have dominated those with less power. Through history, they have almost always been defeated.
This societal disease is more ingrained. The enemy lives among us, in the shadows with leverage and power. Maybe the notice going forward for college administrators is simply another reminder.
First and foremost, it just can't be about the winning percentage.
If you don't think so, it's your job.
