06-04-2004, 12:19 AM
<a href='http://www.sportsline.com/general/story/7384634' target='_blank'>Probation-plagued SEC takes steps to discourage cheating</a>
DESTIN, Fla. -- Dave Odom knew the Southeastern Conference had an image problem when he talked recently with a colleague from another major league about scheduling a game.
"He told me there were only four teams in the SEC he would play," said Odom, the men's basketball coach at South Carolina.
The message was clear: Two-thirds of the SEC's 12 schools should be avoided because they played loose with the rules.
Acknowledging its reputation as a renegade conference, the SEC approved a policy Wednesday that is designed to reduce the sort of cheating that has put a constant stream of schools at odds with the NCAA.
The policy is supposed to streamline the process for reporting violations and make schools more accountable for keeping their people in line.
"Obviously, we needed do something," Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville said. "I think this is the right road to take. We'll see."
Four SEC schools -- Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and Kentucky -- are currently on probation. Georgia and Mississippi State recently admitted to rules violations but have yet to be sanctioned by the NCAA.
Over the past decade, nearly every league school has been accused of malfeasance, some more than once. The SEC's reputation for athletic excellence has been tarnished by recruiting scandals and academic fraud.
"This is the first time in the history of the league that we've all come together in the process, looked each other in the eye and acknowledged the issues we've had," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. "We don't want them to happen anymore."
At its annual spring meeting on Florida's gulf coast, the SEC unanimously approved the recommendations of the "Task Force on Compliance & Enforcement." Slive has set a goal of having all SEC schools off probation by the summer of 2007.
A centerpiece of the new policy: If one school suspects another of violating NCAA rules, they must follow a strict protocol for reporting the allegations.
For instance, if a coach at School A believes someone at School B has broken a rule, he must report those concerns to his own athletic director. The AD would determine if the information should be reported to the SEC office, which would make a similar decision before passing along the allegations to School B. That school must conduct its own investigation and report back to Slive within 30 days.
The new policy, which might become known as the "Phillip Fulmer Rule," is supposed to give coaches a clear-cut policy for dealing with suspicious behavior by a rival school.
Fulmer, the Tennessee football coach, told an NCAA investigator in 2000 that he suspected improper dealings between Alabama boosters and recruits. While assured of confidentiality, Fulmer's claims were revealed during a federal lawsuit that claims he was part of a conspiracy to bring down the Crimson Tide football program.
The NCAA wound up placing Alabama on probation for five years, including major scholarship reductions and a two-year ban on playing in a bowl.
"I think everybody has gotten the message that this is the way things need to be," Fulmer said. "We want to have the reputation around the country that the SEC is not only a great conference academically and athletically, but we do things the right way."
Asked if he felt the new policy grew out of his embarrassing allegations against Alabama, Fulmer replied, "I hope not."
Gene Marsh, an Alabama law professor and member of the task force, said anyone who suspected wrongdoing should know how their concerns were being addressed.
"People have complained that they would raise an issue, then never hear how it was resolved," he said. "Now, there are absolute lines of authority about who's reporting and who's got the responsibility for investigating."
Still, the new policy provides no penalties for a school that doesn't comply with the reporting guidelines. Slive is counting on "peer pressure" to keep members in line, which could be difficult given the SEC's track record.
When Odom was coaching in the Atlantic Coast Conference, he was amazed at all the rule-breaking that seemed to prevail in the SEC. Coaches talked openly about paying for players and bragged that they had their own system of checks, balances and avoiding the NCAA.
"I'd say, 'How in the heck do you get by with that stuff," Odom recalled. "They'd say, 'Hey, local rules prevail. We take care of our own."
The SEC is now urging schools to shy away from hiring coaches who have run afoul of NCAA rules at other institutions.
In addition, the SEC plans to hire an outside firm to review each school's compliance programs every two years, plus spend more time educating everyone from school presidents to athletic department secretaries on the importance of obeying NCAA rules.
"The commissioner is very committed to helping clean things up," Georgia football coach Mark Richt said. "No conference is perfect. But certainly we want to do a better job."
DESTIN, Fla. -- Dave Odom knew the Southeastern Conference had an image problem when he talked recently with a colleague from another major league about scheduling a game.
"He told me there were only four teams in the SEC he would play," said Odom, the men's basketball coach at South Carolina.
The message was clear: Two-thirds of the SEC's 12 schools should be avoided because they played loose with the rules.
Acknowledging its reputation as a renegade conference, the SEC approved a policy Wednesday that is designed to reduce the sort of cheating that has put a constant stream of schools at odds with the NCAA.
The policy is supposed to streamline the process for reporting violations and make schools more accountable for keeping their people in line.
"Obviously, we needed do something," Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville said. "I think this is the right road to take. We'll see."
Four SEC schools -- Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and Kentucky -- are currently on probation. Georgia and Mississippi State recently admitted to rules violations but have yet to be sanctioned by the NCAA.
Over the past decade, nearly every league school has been accused of malfeasance, some more than once. The SEC's reputation for athletic excellence has been tarnished by recruiting scandals and academic fraud.
"This is the first time in the history of the league that we've all come together in the process, looked each other in the eye and acknowledged the issues we've had," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. "We don't want them to happen anymore."
At its annual spring meeting on Florida's gulf coast, the SEC unanimously approved the recommendations of the "Task Force on Compliance & Enforcement." Slive has set a goal of having all SEC schools off probation by the summer of 2007.
A centerpiece of the new policy: If one school suspects another of violating NCAA rules, they must follow a strict protocol for reporting the allegations.
For instance, if a coach at School A believes someone at School B has broken a rule, he must report those concerns to his own athletic director. The AD would determine if the information should be reported to the SEC office, which would make a similar decision before passing along the allegations to School B. That school must conduct its own investigation and report back to Slive within 30 days.
The new policy, which might become known as the "Phillip Fulmer Rule," is supposed to give coaches a clear-cut policy for dealing with suspicious behavior by a rival school.
Fulmer, the Tennessee football coach, told an NCAA investigator in 2000 that he suspected improper dealings between Alabama boosters and recruits. While assured of confidentiality, Fulmer's claims were revealed during a federal lawsuit that claims he was part of a conspiracy to bring down the Crimson Tide football program.
The NCAA wound up placing Alabama on probation for five years, including major scholarship reductions and a two-year ban on playing in a bowl.
"I think everybody has gotten the message that this is the way things need to be," Fulmer said. "We want to have the reputation around the country that the SEC is not only a great conference academically and athletically, but we do things the right way."
Asked if he felt the new policy grew out of his embarrassing allegations against Alabama, Fulmer replied, "I hope not."
Gene Marsh, an Alabama law professor and member of the task force, said anyone who suspected wrongdoing should know how their concerns were being addressed.
"People have complained that they would raise an issue, then never hear how it was resolved," he said. "Now, there are absolute lines of authority about who's reporting and who's got the responsibility for investigating."
Still, the new policy provides no penalties for a school that doesn't comply with the reporting guidelines. Slive is counting on "peer pressure" to keep members in line, which could be difficult given the SEC's track record.
When Odom was coaching in the Atlantic Coast Conference, he was amazed at all the rule-breaking that seemed to prevail in the SEC. Coaches talked openly about paying for players and bragged that they had their own system of checks, balances and avoiding the NCAA.
"I'd say, 'How in the heck do you get by with that stuff," Odom recalled. "They'd say, 'Hey, local rules prevail. We take care of our own."
The SEC is now urging schools to shy away from hiring coaches who have run afoul of NCAA rules at other institutions.
In addition, the SEC plans to hire an outside firm to review each school's compliance programs every two years, plus spend more time educating everyone from school presidents to athletic department secretaries on the importance of obeying NCAA rules.
"The commissioner is very committed to helping clean things up," Georgia football coach Mark Richt said. "No conference is perfect. But certainly we want to do a better job."