College is supposed to be a place of higher learning. So why are so many college athletic programs unwilling to learn from their peers’ mistakes?
It seems SMU’s death penalty in 1987 and its effect on the football program and even the school would deter anyone considering violating NCAA rules. This is not the case, however, as multiple stories seemingly every month detail rule violations by coaches and athletic programs of esteemed universities. These coaches know the NCAA will never hand down another death penalty to a school, so they bypass rules like it’s their job.
The Penn State scandal in the news lately is just the latest of the fundamental breakdown of morals in the last frontier of amateur sports. The Penn State issue is incomparable to other recent scandals because of the seriousness of the offenses, but it should be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, forcing the NCAA to take a long look in the mirror at its entire organization. The NCAA governing body cannot enforce the rules it has spelled out.
This past year alone has seen such scandals as the University of Miami’s and Ohio State’s football programs debacles involving improper benefits and illegal payments to players. Even recruiting violations seem the norm among colleges. Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl was fired after he lied to investigators regarding improper contacts with recruits.
These account for only a small sample of universities caught disobeying the rules specifically set out by the NCAA to counter these problems.
These college athletes are there not only to play their respective sports but also to gain an education. However, the graduation rates for many athletic programs are appalling. It seems life after football is often not addressed.
For most athletes, their college years are their first experience living away from home with newfound independence. They show up to school and are mentored by coaches and athletic programs whose main focuses are wins and the money football brings into the university. Colleges are not looking after the best interests of the student-athletes, and everyone suffers for it.
College athletics use these young men for their personal gain, and it is becoming detrimental to sports across all of the college landscape.
With the aforementioned scandals of Miami and Ohio State old news, why did it take boys being molested in Pennsylvania for everyone to remember how crooked and corrupt many athletic programs are?
College athletics are supposed to be a showcase of amateur sports, so how did they get to being run by professional bamboozlers?
College programs and the NCAA need to look at the long-term consequences of their choices. The NCAA needs to better enforce its rules while the colleges should show more accountability in the way those in the athletic departments behave.
The pursuit of one national championship is becoming the driving factor of these coaches, taking away from the ultimate goal of positive influence on the next generation of young men.
Until producing these student-athletes for life after college becomes top priority, the NCAA will continue to be plagued with legal and moral problems.
