With the newest NCAA scandal – which has led to the arrest of four assistant basketball coaches from different programs as well as Louisville coach Rick Pitino being “effectively fired” – everyone has an opinion on cheating and its punishment.
That includes Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, who ranted about it Thursday during his radio show on 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, Ohio.
Meyer was reportedly hesitant to share too much about what he thinks of all this, until he changed his mind.
The Columbus Dispatch transcribed his comments and noted they were “lightly edited for clarity”:
“I’ve always been a big proponent of the NCAA. It’s very frustrating to see that things happen and things happen and things happen — some of a very serious nature — and it just disappears because they don’t have subpoena power. You hear the term ‘toothless.’ It’s certainly not because of effort, because we have very good people there.
“I always believed if you willfully and intentionally broke the rule or you lie to the NCAA, you can never coach again. To this day, I still believe that. I’m not talking about mistakes made when you have a rulebook like this (thick). But if you intentionally pay a guy money or willfully have a second cell phone to make illegal phone calls, you’re done. You can never coach again.
“It’s no different than a student-athlete. If a student-athlete lies to the NCAA, they’re finished. So you’re telling me a 50-year-old man has more rights than an 18-year-old student-athlete? Who comes up with that? If you intentionally lie about committing violations, your career is over. You’re not suspended for (only) two games. Some of the silly penalties you have — you can’t talk to a recruit for a week and a half or something like that — no. You’re finished. That will clean up some things.
“I’m in favor of regulation. I’m in favor of strong law enforcement and making people obey the rules in our profession. I don’t know the whole story behind it. I don’t have time. But I know one thing, when you start hearing “federal,” when someone asks you a question and you lie, you’re going to jail. I’m anxious to watch what happens.”
Meyer also said that since news of the scandal broke Tuesday, he talked with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith about what this means moving forward.
He also said he hopes this will eventually lead to NCAA reforms.
