Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon ready to move on from NCAA violations
Dave Brandon
But athletic director Dave Brandon said there will be some sense of relief next week when the university answers the allegations against it.
“One of the penalties you receive going through a process like this is the process,” Brandon said Tuesday from the Big Ten spring meetings. “It requires a lot of time, it forces you to spend a lot of time reviewing what you’ve done, trying to come up with steps and measures to assure that you don’t make the same mistake twice. And the word investigation in and of itself is no fun to hear for anybody, so it creates a hardship.”
In February, Michigan was accused of five potentially major violations. Brandon said most of the university’s work product as it relates to the investigation will be done next week.
After that?
“We do our jobs,” Brandon said. “My understanding is once we turn that all over to the NCAA the ball is in their court and they’ll have ample time to review it just as we had ample time to review the allegations and respond, and then we’ll come together before the committee. I think in that interim period our workload will be reduced a bit on this whole thing and we can do other things."
As for the stain the investigation left on the university?
"It’s created a pressure on all of us because we don’t like to be in this position," Brandon said. "We want to get out of this position, we want to get on with our lives and we don’t want this to happen again."
Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
Comments
BowlForBlue
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 9:56 p.m.
The only real concern or question here is what Bowl Michigan will bring home, metal or crystal... I'm a crystal person myself! Bowl promoters will be on hands and knees begging Michigan this winter, but the one were going to doesn't need an invitation... at 13-0 this year, we will be playing for the crystal.
Sean T.
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 1:15 p.m.
But what if we don't go to a bowl and our team fares no better than the last two years? Then would you like them to axe RR? Then ask yourself....was it worth hiring this dude!
Robbie Webb
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 10:59 a.m.
''What comes next?'' A winning season, a bowl game, the violations will be water under the bridge, and all of the Rich Rod haters disappear and eat their words. These violations are laugable and people are making a bigger deal out of it than it really is.
NoBowl4Blue
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 10:53 a.m.
Two seasons, no bowls, tied for last in the league and violations. I think this is the strat, wonder what comes next? Rich Rod was a great choice........NOT!
michboy40
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 10:49 a.m.
This whole practice issue is nothing to do with "finding the truth", or "freedom of the press". This is about a faction of Michigan faithful who decided they did not like RR from the get go. They want him out, and they will be successful eventually. They will spin the dark cloud as long as they need to, until they get the desired result. Any reporter or news organization could do the same to any major college football program if they had support from ulumni and did not like the coach. His only way out is to will a lot of football games. Plain and simple.
Sparky79
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 7:48 a.m.
azwolverine, there's a big difference between going two hours over practice limits per week due to and going 25 hours over per week like the Free Press would have you believe. The Free Press claimed the players they talked to told them they were spending two to three times the eight hour per week off season workout limit, but the NCAA said that was more like two hours a week. In the end, a violation is a violation and they need to fix it, but the time limit violation is nowhere near as bad as the Freep originally made it out to be.
BroncoJoe
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 7:30 a.m.
@utownie "However, the NCAA decided to also investigate RR's practices at WVU. That is an unusual and very serious inquiry into RR and how he operated." It is not unusual, it is a new policy at the NCAA. And please, some perspective. Yes, rules are rules, but breaking the speed limit is not a felony. It should not be treated as a felony. And the areas of concern at UM do not even begin to approach the issues the NCAA should be focusing on such as those being addressed at USC. @trespass "It is obvious that the administration has learned nothing from this fiasco. One of the main violations was the atmosphere of non-complaince promoted by RR. I think these comments show that the only lesson Brandon learned was that they need to cover their tracks better." Brandon said, "(The process) requires a lot of time, it forces you to spend a lot of time reviewing what youve done, trying to come up with steps and measures to assure that you dont make the same mistake twice." By mistake, he is referring to the issues highlighted by the NCAA, not being found out. What more can you ask of UM once these issues were identified? They investigated, identified what went wrong, and they are putting in place actions and policies to prevent them from happening again. Back to USC again: How long has THAT been going on? Obviously, a much bigger issue with much more severe issues. No intent to identify what went wrong and how to fix it, a lot of foot dragging, etc. No one likes to see these issues with the NCAA for the program, but Brandon, RR, and UM are dealing with it the way it should be addressed. If the worst thing they can come up with on the UM football program is, "We practiced too much," I'm OK with that as long as they put fixes in place to ensure they stay inside the rules they must obey in the future.
trespass
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 6:23 a.m.
Boo Hoo!!! You had to endure the hardship of investigating the violations and fixing them. It would have been so much simpler to allow the University to continue to ignore the violations. It is obvious that the administration has learned nothing from this fiasco. One of the main violations was the atmosphere of non-complaince promoted by RR. I think these comments show that the only lesson Brandon learned was that they need to cover their tracks better.
utownie
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 5:15 a.m.
An alleged violation was for running laps? That is not a specific allegation in the NCAA documents. However, the NCAA decided to also investigate RR's practices at WVU. That is an unusual and very serious inquiry into RR and how he operated.
Baghdad Rod
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 1:11 a.m.
Everything is Fine! Rod is not a cheater! 6 losing seasons in only 17 as a head coach go to show that he does things honestly! NCAA infidels are evil! Rosenberg is Evil! Rich Rod is firmly in charge of the future of Michigan Football! Go Blue! 13 wins!
voiceofreason
Wed, May 19, 2010 : 12:53 a.m.
azwolverine, One of the alleged "major violations" is for making players run laps after skipping class. If you recall, this was the exact same punishment used by the Carr regime. I wonder how this suddenly became an issue once Rich became the head coach........
azwolverine
Tue, May 18, 2010 : 10:06 p.m.
That darn Mark Snyder of the Free Press...if he had just kept the truth under wraps, none of this would have ever happened. In fact, if not for that whole "freedom of the press" thing, the truth would never have come out and then there would be no one to blame for RR's sloppiness because we wouldn't know about it. It makes me wonder if the whole US and it's Constitution is conspiring against RR. If only we lived in Afghanistan, this would have never come to light. I'm going to boycott the whole US!