OT-Sarkisian off to a rough start at USC
It's being reported that Tosh Lupoi is being investigated for recruiting violations at UW. According to reports Lupoi gave money to a recruits family to cover the cost of tutoring and online classes.
December 19th, 2013 at 12:36 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
No UW does. It's the Calipari effect.
December 19th, 2013 at 12:59 PM ^
Washington will get punished, and then the Husky fan base will blame the new coach, pinning this on his newly-hired chest as a permanent badge of shame.
Or maybe that's just a Michigan thing.
December 19th, 2013 at 1:25 PM ^
I believe he is referencing the CARA forms that were part of the Rich Rod sanctions and how their mishandling actually pre-dated Rich.
December 19th, 2013 at 2:14 PM ^
I deserve whatever negs I get for that comment, but even now you'll find the occassional poster who blames Rich Rod alone for those violations and flatly refuses to even consider the actual state of affairs.
December 19th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^
I'm fairly sure they don't feel the way they do because of any real or imagined NCAA violations. I would say the fact that we were punished for any violations when we get to see what goes on at places like Auburn and Oregon is pretty amusing.
December 19th, 2013 at 2:52 PM ^
They may forgive him for his won-loss record, but not for his role in putting Michigan football on probation. A lot of fans don't follow these stories that closely. They put all of the blame on RR and believe some of the discredited claims from the Free Press story.
December 19th, 2013 at 1:48 PM ^
Are you referring to Brian Ellerbe, because you are making zero sense unless you are insinuating Ellerbe was shunned by the fanbase for what was done under Fisher's watch (which I'm not wholeheartedly convinced is the case). He is absolutely the only U of M coach I'm aware of that would fall under this statement (which right there disproves your "just a Michigan thing" point)
December 19th, 2013 at 3:14 PM ^
Yes. They'll take away Matt Leinart's Heisman.
December 19th, 2013 at 3:18 PM ^
"Sarkisian listed Lupoi as a possible candidate with the USC compliance office, and Roberts told the Times that all proposed candidates were vetted."
Sarkisian didn't even want him for coaching. He wanted the guy who was cheating for him at UW to be in his compliance office haha
December 19th, 2013 at 3:22 PM ^
If I read it right, Sarkisian is required to provide a list of all potential assistant-coach hires to the USC compliance office, which is responsible for vetting them.
December 19th, 2013 at 11:57 PM ^
I have a feeling I know how their vetting process works.
Compliance Officer: "You good?"
Lupoi: "Yeah."
Compliance Officer: "OK, you're good."
December 19th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
Probably not, but their best recruiter may not be with the staff much longer.
December 19th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
is as clean as they come. /s
December 19th, 2013 at 12:42 PM ^
Imagine that. A head coach leaving a program immediately prior to an NCAA investigation.
Boom - Calipari'd
December 19th, 2013 at 12:44 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
Boy you're right. While big John immediately came to mind cause he's got the "career achievement" award locked up - Pete did the exact same thing at USC too.
Boom - skeezeballcoaches
December 19th, 2013 at 12:51 PM ^
Kelly'd
December 19th, 2013 at 2:21 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 2:29 PM ^
In Arkansas and Minnesota before the shenanigans at ND.
December 19th, 2013 at 2:53 PM ^
Couldn't win with his recruits at ND.Huh? ND was a powerhouse from 1988-93. Holtz got there in 1986, so the bulk of that was done with his own guys.
December 19th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 11:55 PM ^
No - the guy who got the new Escalade kept his mouth shut.
December 20th, 2013 at 12:24 AM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 1:23 PM ^
They both learned from the master at USC.
December 19th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
No way this is the only thing he's been shady about. Sark's going to be without his best recruiter.
December 19th, 2013 at 12:55 PM ^
ESPN can run a documentary on it and call it Tosh.Oh No!
December 19th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
What if I told you - A coach tried to help a high school student get good grades
"NCAA - It's all about educating the kids" a new 30-for-30 film
December 19th, 2013 at 11:54 PM ^
Oh stop. Do you think Lupoi did this because he was so concerned about educating the kid? Or because giving the family $3k meant a) the kid would choose his school, and b) the kid would have the grades to see the field? It's not like Lupoi was paying for tutoring for a bunch of random under educated kids, he was sending a recruit money so that he'd come play football for him. That's it. Don't make this seem like Lupoi was such a do-gooder here.
December 20th, 2013 at 9:01 AM ^
You know the NCAA with the mission statement on the website and this in a legal defense:
Despite its stated founding principles, the NCAA, in a recent court filing, claimed it's not the organization's responsibility to physically protect student-athletes.
“The NCAA denies that it has a legal duty to protect student-athletes,” the court filing stated, which was obtained by The Washington Times. “But [the NCAA] admits that it was ‘founded to protect young people from the dangerous and exploitative athletic practices of the time.'”
December 19th, 2013 at 12:58 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 1:07 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^
The Times, citing a USC source with knowledge of the process, said Lupoi's chance of being hired by the Trojans is now "less than zero."
I could see that, yes.
Actually, here is the LA Times story, which goes into some pretty decent detail (LINK).
According to this, once Lupoi had said that he could provide the $3,000 that it would cost to pay for the tutoring at Kaplan, Lupoi met Mike Davis - one of Andrew Basham's coaches - at a restaurant in Seattle's Northgate Mall. At one point in the meal, Davis got up to use the facilities and Lupoi followed to tell him where the money had been left (tucked in the booth at the restaurant where they had been sitting).
There's a lot in the article, and all of it interesting to say the least.
December 19th, 2013 at 2:19 PM ^
So USC lets Ed Oregeron go after he saves their season and this is the first newsworthy event after Sarkisian's hiring.
December 19th, 2013 at 1:16 PM ^
Sounds like he'll fit right in at USC.
December 19th, 2013 at 1:36 PM ^
It's a crime that the HC escapes penalties just because he was lucky/crafty enough to leave the program in time. There needs to be a rule that HCs are culpable for the misdeeds of underlings, period.
Oh, wait. Isn't there a new NCAA rule that does just that? Wasn't Mizzou's bb coach punished for misdeeds committed by his assistants at Miami?
December 19th, 2013 at 1:34 PM ^
Sark senses sanctions coming in Seattle, flees to USC
The yin and the yang
December 19th, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
but shopped at Sam's Club.
December 19th, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^
Won't matter. Sark will dominate recruiting for years to come. Look for USC to return to the top 5 year in and year out.
December 19th, 2013 at 11:51 PM ^
I'm curious - why do you think that? What has Sark proven as a coach?
December 19th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^
What an asshole, paying for classes and tutoring.
December 19th, 2013 at 3:31 PM ^
Cardale Jones shares your outrage, though possibly for different reasons.
December 20th, 2013 at 1:05 AM ^
December 19th, 2013 at 3:10 PM ^
What an asshole, paying for classes and tutoring.