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NCAA’s Suspension Issues and Their Coaches

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Caption: (L-R) OSU Coaches Urban Meyer (2012-2018), Jim Tressel (2001-2010), UM Coaches Rich Rodriguez (2008-2010), and Jim Harbaugh (2015-present)

By: Brady Shick

Brady Shick is a fourth-year undergraduate student at BGSU from Sagamore Hills, Ohio. He is majoring in Sport Management and minoring in Marketing. Baseball, golf, and football are his main sport interests.

October 6, 2023

Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, and Jim Tressel. All highly acclaimed coaches from the Big Ten. All of whom served suspensions from their respective programs due to different NCAA violations. Tressel was initially suspended two games for not notifying university or NCAA officials of Ohio State players taking improper benefits. Tressel requested that his suspension be five games to match the 5-game suspensions of 6 players. Urban Meyer was suspended three games for insufficient action against an assistant coach who allegedly assaulted his wife. Jim Harbaugh was suspended for three games for recruiting violations during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Across these eleven games of suspensions their programs collectively went 9-2 with a scoring differential of +233. The only losses came from Tressel’s 2011 Ohio State team that was missing key players due to their acceptance of improper benefits. That means that each of these teams on average was winning by more than three touchdowns during games their head coach was suspended. That was with the head coach supposedly being the catalyst of any program. Urban Meyer built up three struggling programs into top 25 teams before leaving for another school. Harbaugh turned around a Michigan team that was clawing its way to a .500 record and hadn’t beaten The Ohio State in 10 years. Yet with both of these coaching greats missing from the sidelines their teams were winning by almost 30 points.

I don’t believe that these teams should lose because a head coach is missing, but to be dominant has something to say about the severity of the suspensions. Only one of the teams they played during these stretches was ranked and over half of the teams were not from a Power-5 Conference. These suspensions were all against lackluster competition. Because of this, we often see coaches at large schools committing various NCAA violations with little to no consequences. During their suspension, coaches are still allowed to see their players during the week leading up to games. Either way these suspensions don’t actually end up being punishments.

There are a few ways to fix this problem. One, you could start suspending coaches for fewer games and apply suspensions when they play conference games. Two, a coach’s suspension could include daily practices. This would prevent the head coach from having contact with his team and would serve as an actual suspension from the team.

I don’t want to see utter chaos and a team losing their national championship hopes because a coach is suspended. I do want to see actual consequences for breaking the rules.

Dave Brandon out as Michigan’s AD

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By Alex O’Connor

On last Friday afternoon, Dave Brandon formally resigned his position as Athletic Director for the University of Michigan. University President Mark Schlissel noted in a news conference that “It would be in the best interest of our student-athletes, athletic department and the university community if he moved onto other challenges.” Brandon strived to make a profit and was highly criticized for making college athletics into a business and having a strict bottom line approach. In addition, there were numerous other factors leading to Brandon’s resignation, however one of the biggest factors in the media came from the blog, MGOBlog.com. This blog site obtained emails sent between Brandon and UM Boosters and season ticket holders. These emails contained damaging information about Brandon. One email sent to this group by Brandon told recipients to “quit drinking” and another excerpt saying “I suggest you find another team support.” These emails being released only further confirmed the reason in which Brandon resigned.

An additional “knock” on Brandon’s tenure at Michigan was his handling of the concussion protocol regarding sophomore quarterback Shane Morris during a September football game against Minnesota. Immediately after Morris’ injury, Brandon sent out a release at 1:00 a.m. stating that Morris had a “probable, mild concussion.” However, head football coach Brady Hoke said he did not. Morris proceeded to play the rest of the game. This put Hoke in hot water as he immediately said after the game that “We would never, ever put a guy on the field when there’s possibility of head trauma.” USA Today noted that Hoke was defending himself and his staff, while Brandon neglected their judgment and put out his own statement. There was a large lack of communication between the two entities and put UM’s athletics in a negative light.

In regards to the blog posts on MGOBlog.com, many have noted that this could have been the catalyst for his resignation. Erik Bernstein, the co-owner of Bernstein Crisis-Management, labeled the UM Athletics Department as a state of “crisis”. This was after the emails were released to the public. Bernstein guaranteed that “The emails (Brandon) sent absolutely are going to cost him the job.” Bernstein also noted the personal and intentional attack on their supporters was immature, and did not reflect the program in any sort of positive manner. The comments came at a time of adversity for the program and only added fuel to their fire. Ultimately, Brandon had lots of adversity as Michigan’s athletic director, however the way in which he handled it prompted his resignation.