Winners and losers as the NCAA investigation into Michigan football concludes
The NCAA is done handing down sanctions to the Michigan football program and now will move on to other schools and other problems.
There were clear winners and losers throughout the 14-month process beginning with the articles in the Detroit Free Press outlining allegations of violations to the end of the investigation Thursday.
Winners
Rich Rodriguez
Gene Marsh and Lightfoot, Franklin & White: Marsh and his attorneys told Michigan what it needed to do to prepare for the NCAA hearing, what it should self-impose and worked with the university every step of the way. The school paid more than $600,000 in legal fees, but considering the NCAA pretty much complied with the school’s suggested penalties, it was worth it. Plus, the attorneys told Michigan how to defend against the failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance.
Dave Brandon: Brandon took his podium time seriously enough to denounce “a local newspaper” otherwise known as the Detroit Free Press multiple times while discussing the NCAA’s findings. He used his savvy as a CEO to answer questions and challenged reporters to find the difference between a failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance and failure to monitor. He was able to rile a fan base looking for something to believe in and spun Michigan having five major NCAA violations handed to it as, at the very least, a neutral movement for the university.
Losers: Alex Herron: The former Michigan graduate assistant looked like he had a pretty plum job, working for one of the most historic programs in college football and putting himself in a position to one day land a coaching job. Then he lied to NCAA investigators, was caught and fired. While the NCAA “imposed no penalty directly on you,” his actions likely make him unemployable, for a little while at least, in college coaching ranks.
Brad Labadie: The former director of football operations was painted in the NCAA report and the Michigan and Rich Rodriguez responses as the point of communication breakdown between the coaching staff and the compliance department. Labadie no longer works at the university, having left in July for a job in the private sector.
Michigan: Michigan was hit with its first major NCAA sanctions in the history of its football program. Were the charges as serious as those levied against USC or the ones likely coming against North Carolina? No, but they were still directly in violation of NCAA rules.
Rich Rodriguez: While Rodriguez and Michigan had the failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance charge -- the one aimed at the head coach -- lessened, he still presided over a football program nailed with NCAA sanctions. He’ll lose 130 practice hours and was still labeled with a failure to monitor.
Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.
Comments
johnnya2
Sat, Nov 6, 2010 : 4:29 p.m.
That is total spin to say the FREEP came out a loser. Michigan ADMITS to cheating. I also have yet to see how a 50% increase int he penalty (2 years to 3 years) is saying they self-imposed the right amount. Tell you what, any of you want to add 50% on to my paycheck every week?
kidmich
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 : 11:03 a.m.
I'd say the biggest loser in this debacle was the Detroit Free Press' credibility. Much ado about nothing. Mountains out of mole hills. You name the cliche and it probably fits.
goblue_4
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 : 8:21 a.m.
If the defense gets the offense on the field more often, they could score more points. Everyone here knows it is a defensive issue that Michigan has and until that is fix, don't blame the offense.
OSUbeBetter
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 : 3:21 a.m.
Michigan has self imposed a four year Bowl Ban starting two years ago.
iamcris
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 : 3:08 a.m.
Hai guys! Winners? UM of course. Losers? tOSU of course. DUH.
iamcris
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 : 2:56 a.m.
Hai guys! Statistics are cool and if anyone has ever taken a statistics course college level they already know statistics can be used to prove any point you want to make. tater gets +1 for his post.
leathercouch
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 : 1:09 a.m.
oh how you can skew numbers... how about we go by average points scored per game (a little more relative to the debate than total points, as 3 of the teams you listed have played 1 more game than us) OSU - 36.2 Iowa 32.2 Wis 31.7 Mich 29.5 Ill 27.8 MSU - 27 and of the top 3 all 3 have played at least 2 of the bottom 3 defenses in the conference and had significant blowouts in those games. those numbers will come down as the play better defenses whereas michigan has played 4 of the top 6 defenses in the conference and only 1 of the bottom 4 with michigan only playing 2 more "stout" defenses in illinois this weekend and the end of the season against ohio state they should put up better numbers that the rest of the team ahead of them (barring a blowout against michigan by either/both) lets look back at this at the end of the season when we have played the entire conference. until than to say that michigans offense is ANY issue other than it gets off the field too fast for its defense to rest is dillusional.
OSUbeBetter
Fri, Nov 5, 2010 : 12:55 a.m.
Michigan has self imposed a 4 year Bowl Ban starting 2 years ago.
3 And Out
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 11:02 p.m.
and traditional offenses Iowa and Wisconsin have scored much more in the same number of games...and OSU WAY more in 5 (no way we could catch them in 5 games) so....that still leaves RR's vaunted offense at Best (including all positive spin) the 4th or 5th best scoring offense in the Big Ten. And btw...we were 9th in BT scoring last year...so I suppose you could call it "improvement"....however you could also call it "incredible one player + havent faced the best defenses yet" Wow. 3 years of pain for this.
Eric
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 9:21 p.m.
@3 AND OUT: You're right the numbers don't lie. How about these numbers: Number of conference games to date: OSU - 5 MSU - 5 ILL - 5 UM -4 So, of course, you would expect that UM would have fewer pts scored than a team who has played one more game than UM has played.
amaizenblueballs
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 7:56 p.m.
Sammer, Both your statistics (hard to read) and 3 and Outs can be correct. But I would go with points scored versus yardage any time. Last I new points win games. I am tired of having more yardage than the other team and getting beat badly. Take the Iowa game, after 2 kickoffs they only had to go 60 yards each time to score. I would not be surprised if our points per yards of offense ratio is lower than most schools. I think 3 and Out was also Big Ten games only.
3 And Out
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 7:30 p.m.
totally agree Heartbreak....it is not a bad offense, but its not a great one either...it basically is an average offense at BEST, lead by a great great player in D Rob..... The offense is certainly not great when it matters in the first half... this team gets way behind early and the racks up yards in the second half when they are frantically trying to make a comeback and the other team takes its foot off the gass (Iowa) or plays prevent D like MSU and PSU did... btw...did you see that OSU has 180+ points already in 4 games? we are gonna get killed down there they are rollin on O now...
heartbreakM
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 7:20 p.m.
@3andOut: I agree with you about the offense. I posted elsewhere tonight, but will repeat: The offense puts up yards, but when it matters, the offense is not getting it done. 10 points in first half of MSU and PSU game. Don't remember Iowa. To keep having to come back is very exhausting for a team. That's why comebacks are not that usual in sports. And the only game in B10 in 2.5 years (20 games) that UM did not have to come back in was the Minnesota game when they had Threet and Sheridan as QB. All 3 other wins were comebacks (Wisconsin and 2 Indianas). Memorable losses of comebacks where it was too little too late was MSU last year, Iowa last year, PSU this year, Iowa this year--but in each of those games, the team just ran out of steam. Good offense controls the game, as PSU did to us this weekend. And your numbers speak a bad story, 3andOut.
3 And Out
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 7:11 p.m.
Quick Note to the RR defenders from here, and some that come here from mgoblog... the vaunted RR offense currently ranks 6th in Big Ten Scoring. 6th. Sparty scores more points in conference than our mediocre offense lead by one great player does. source: big ten conference stats posted at bigtennetwork website: OSU 181 conference points Illinois 139 points Michigan State 135 points Iowa 129 points Wisconsin 127 points Michigan 118 points The big traditional Big Ten offenses score more points in the Big Ten than our RR flashy finesse offense that is based on misdirection and trickeration. 6th best offense in conference + worst defense in conference is not a good combination for Rich Rodriguez. Once again, the numbers do no lie.
2sweetblue
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 7:02 p.m.
Tater doe not care about Michigan..... He post more then anyone on Sparty articles................
A2D2
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 7 p.m.
The biggest loser? The Detroit Free Press, whose lynch-mobbing, witch-hunting disregard for journalism in general and personal ethics by its writers specifically came out of this looking like fools.
Yelmonian
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 6:48 p.m.
Tater, You are glad that UM agreed they committed 4 violations, and had one violation modified... for a total of 5 violations? It's not like the NCAA said... Gee UM, we're sorry...You didn't commit any violations. They said 5 violations were committed, they just took away the aspect that RR willfully violated them. The ironic part will be when RR gets nailed for ignoring them at WVU. I believe they have stated they told RR he was violating these items, and it kept occurring. But, I'm confused as to say why you say you are glad it worked out this way. 3 years (not two) of probation, practice hours reduced, and the perfect record blemished... and you are glad it worked out this way. What am I missing?
Joe
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 6:31 p.m.
Saginaw....2 letter answer to your question, and the first letter is N!!!
saginaw
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 6:23 p.m.
This stuff is mostly non-sense. The real issue; is RR the right coach for Michigan football going forward?
Steve@Clearwater
Thu, Nov 4, 2010 : 6:16 p.m.
So Rich Rod is losing 130 practice hours? Better get on the phone with the Harbaugh IMMEDIATELY!