1. Winning at Any Cost? A Look Into College Football Scandals
Up until recently, the problems at Ohio State were what was on everyone's mind.
Former Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor received thousands of dollars for
signed gear and memorabilia, and several other Ohio State players received deals
from local car dealerships and additional benefits like free rounds of golf. The
scandal forced out longtime coach Jim Tressel, and the NCAA is still deciding
whether or not to further punish Ohio State. Additionally, three Ohio State players
were suspended for the season opener against Akron because they accepted
impermissible benefits at a charity event earlier this year.
Another head coach casualty this offseason due to program wrongdoing was North
Carolina's Butch Davis. Several North Carolina Tar Heels players received trips to
Las Vegas and Miami, black diamond watches and earrings and several other
benefits worth thousands of dollars. More than 13 players were suspended for last
year's season opener against LSU, and Marvin Austin, Greg Little and Robert
Quinn were later declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA. North Carolina
also was found guilty of academic scandal, as one of their former tutors provided
travel and parking benefits to team members, as well as free tutoring. Some players
also had completed homework and assignments supplied to them. The university,
in an attempt to restore credibility to the institution, fired Davis in October.
While many of these scandals involve players receiving benefits while playing for
their universities, other scandals involve football programs paying agents to entice
recruits to sign to their particular program. This appears to be what happened at
Oregon. Oregon is currently being investigated by the NCAA for paying $25,000
to Will Lyles and his scouting service company. Although schools do pay
recruiting services for information throughout the season, $25,000 is an extremely
high sum. The only thing Oregon received for their money was a 2010 nation-wide
recruiting packet that contained mostly players from Texas who graduated the year
before. While ordinarily this would seem foolish, Will Lyles was the mentor of
five-star running back Lache Seastrunk. Seastrunk was a highly recruited player,
and he committed to the Ducks only a few weeks before Lyles was paid $25,000.
Lyles also had contacts with other football programs, including LSU and Texas
A&M. Lyles himself admits that "[Oregon] paid for what they saw as my access
and influence with recruits," and that "the service I provided went beyond what a
scouting service should." Lyles is just the latest example of an increasing problem
in college football: The middleman who cozies up to big-name high school
prospects and exploits that relationship to gain benefits from universities that are

2. looking to recruit the player.
The University of Southern California is still suffering through the punishment it
earned from the Reggie Bush scandal. Bush and his family received benefits worth
over $100,000 dollars while he played at USC. In return, USC was forced to vacate
their 2004 national championship, Bush was forced to vacate his Heisman Trophy,
USC was banned from the postseason until the 2012 season and USC will only be
able to put 15 students a year on scholarship until 2015.
Sometimes, universities can be punished even when their players are receiving
benefits that sound innocent. Recently, Nebraska self-reported violations that
occurred when they found that $28,000 worth of textbooks had been supplied to
Nebraska football players over the span of four years. While universities are
required to pay for class-required textbooks for any athlete with a scholarship, this
benefit does not extend to non-required or recommended textbooks. While many
feel that Nebraska should be commended for helping their students go beyond the
required classroom material, the fact of the matter is that several players on the
team received thousands of dollars of benefits.
Texas might come into the NCAA's crosshairs in upcoming months. In a recent
interview on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," Rachel McCoy, wife of former
Texas Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy, seemed to insinuate that boosters or
agents were approaching players to give them benefits. She argued that Southern
culture teaches kids to be respectful towards adults, listen to adults and agree with
adults, and that when adults offer kids something, they're culturally obligated to
accept. She then went on to say that there were adults putting kids into bad
positions in Austin.
Auburn came under fire by the NCAA through their involvement with the Cam
Newton scandal. Auburn signed the quarterback to their school and later admitted
that Cam Newton's father shopped Cam Newton to Mississippi State for $180,000.
However, because Auburn did not pay any money to the Newton family, Auburn
has escaped punishment from the NCAA so far. That hasn't stopped Auburn coach
Gene Chizik from complaining, though. Chizik argues that his recruiting efforts
have been hampered because the NCAA has not completely cleared Auburn of
wrongdoing. Auburn currently remains under NCAA investigation.
Miami is only the latest football program to be penalized by the NCAA for players
accepting benefits. Nevin Shapiro, a Miami booster currently serving 20 years of
jail time for his involvement in a Ponzi scheme, has admitted to paying benefits to

3. at least 72 former and current Miami players. These benefits included cash,
prostitutes, jewelry, an engagement ring, an abortion, bounties for injuring
opposing players and entertainment trips.