Alabama's long history of unpunished NCAA violations under Nick Saban

It's time to either pay the players or have powerful people in college football start talking and exposing Alabama and Nick for what they are because this is getting silly. College football isn't fun anymore. This is John Wooden/UCLA/Sam Gilbert all over again. You can't sign the #1 recruiting class every year for a decade and not be breaking the rules. Yes, success begets success and kids want to play for a winner, but it defies logic how a coach who went 6-6, 6-5, 7-5, 6-6, 9-2, 8-4, 10-3, 8-5, 13-1, 9-3, and then bombed in the NFL showed up at a school with a long history of NCAA infraction cases who wasn't relevant for a decade and turned them into the greatest powerhouse in the history of CFB overnight. Now NCAA president Mark Emmert was the chancellor at LSU who hired Saban and he's allowed him to operate brazenly and with full immunity since. 

Alabama has 24 commits right now, 23 of them are 4 or 5 stars. They are going to land at least 4-5 more 5 stars if current recruiting intel holds. This is a monopoly of talent never seen in CFB before, and anyone who thinks they are doing this above board is out of their mind. These are just a few of the stories that have trickled into the public over the years under Saban. Mind you this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The have a car program:

https://247sports.com/college/usc/Board/29/Contents/Alabamas-Recruiting-Dominance-Continues-Wow-50860219/

Their players accept money from runners:

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Five Southeastern Conference football players, including former Alabama All-American tackle D.J. Fluker, allegedly received impermissible benefits prior to completing their collegiate careers. According to a Yahoo! Sports report, former Alabama defensive end Luther Davis acted as an intermediary between the players and multiple NFL agents and financial advisers. The report says Davis funneled money and benefits totaling $45,500 to Fluker, Tennessee starting defensive end Maurice Couch, former Volunteers quarterback Tyler Bray, and former Mississippi State playersFletcher Cox and Chad Bumphis. The allegations would violate NCAA bylaw 12.3.1.2, which prohibits athletes from receiving extra benefits from prospective agents or marketing representatives. The violation could impact Fluker's eligibility and potentially the Alabama wins he participated in, including the 2012 Discover BCS National Championship. A second Yahoo! Sports report alleges that former Alabama safety Mark Barron accepted money while he was recovering from a shoulder injury as a junior in 2011 that kept him from declaring for the NFL draft. Text messages obtained by the website show that Barron was asked to repay money after signing with a competing sports agency. Alabama coach Nick Saban said Wednesday he supports the school's compliance department and then refused to answer further questions on the matter.

They've been accused of paying players by NFL agents:

Sports agent Ralph Cindrich was asked about the harsh penalties the NCAA brought down on Penn State and whether he agreed with them or not. He did hammer the NCAA for their decision making, calling NCAA president Mark Emmert a “bozo”, but he sidetracked, accusing Alabama coach Nick Saban of cheating. Cindrich was asked who is monitoring the NCAA, and he had the following to say: “That’s a very good question,” he said. “No one’s watching them. You want to know who’s watching them? Nick Saban. You want to trust Nick Saban? I have enough on Saban right now – and I realize this stuff gets out, and I also realize the truth is a defense. I know what goes on in college football, so cut me a break. …” “Everybody has something on Nick Saban, for God’s sake,” Cindrich said. “And if he has a problem with anything I say, come on after me, big guy.” Cindrich was then asked if Alabama players are paid to play football for the Tide. “Oh come on. “When you get these guys down and you get them under oath, they’ll tell you that. Sure. The statute of limitations has probably run as far as any criminality was involved to what I was relating to Saban, but I was involved in it. I know what he tried to do. I know what he tried to cover up. If he wants to stand up and say something, I’ll bring that up. If it’s out of time, I’ll go to the nearest agent I know, and I’ll bring up about a dozen things that are in time, because that’s the way he and most of the big-time schools, particularly in the SEC, operate.“

Other coaches in college football think he's cheating:

"If you had the No. 1 recruiting class in the country every year [you'd win like Nick Saban]," an anonymous coach told Chip Patterson of CBSSports.com. "He shows up at every single game with a better roster than the teams he's playing." If you count cheating and getting the best players in the country as part of running a program, he's the best in the country," the coach added. "It's like saying an NFL coach is the best coach in the league if he gets 25 first-round picks every year."

Their players have taken money from coaches on staff:

Back in the old days – say 2011 – the University of Alabama might be nervous after another report of a star player receiving an extra benefit in violation of NCAA rules. 
On Thursday, it was word from TideSports.com that assistant strength and conditioning coach Corey Harris was placed on administrative leave for providing a loan over the summer to star safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. The report also says Harris was found by the Alabama compliance department to have ties to a sports agent. It was just Wednesday that Clinton-Dix was suspended indefinitely for an undisclosed violation of team rules. These aren't outside allegations. These are the conclusions of the school itself. This comes on the heels of last month's Yahoo! Sports detailed story about how former player Luther Davis had ties to sports agents and financial planners and provided a series of "impermissible benefits" to star lineman D.J. Fluker, now of the San Diego Chargers, among other SEC players. The school is looking into that one. That's smoke from two sports agent stories on top of each other, one coming from a currently employed staff member. Predicting the actions of the ever-unpredictable NCAA is always fraught with danger. But back when the NCAA had a full, aggressive enforcement staff, when it still liked flexing its muscles, when it wasn't under such assault from lawyers and the public alike – you know a couple years ago – it stands to reason it would've sent a team to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take a look at the Crimson Tide. 

Their players have been accused of taking banned NCAA substances:

A number of players from the 2012 national championship Alabama football team reportedly used the same deer-antler spray that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis allegedly used this season. The spray contains IGF-1, a substance banned by the NFL and NCAA. Christopher Key, co-owner of the company that provides the spray, toldESPN's Joe Schad on Wednesday that he sold the bottles to Alabama's players and personally witnessed five of them spray it in their mouths. The company, Sports with Alternatives to Steroids, or "S.W.A.T.T." is based in Alabama and Key said he sold approximately 40 bottles in total to members of Alabama's football team; 20 of those bottles were purchased by players at a New Orleans hotel room as the team prepared for the BCS national championship game against LSU last year, and then another 20 bottles were sold to members of the team at the apartment of an Alabama player 10 days before the nationally televised game.

Their players associate with agents:

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- University of Alabama officials are investigating whether junior defensive lineman Marcell Dareus broke NCAA rules by attending an agent's party in Miami's South Beach earlier this summer, multiple sources told ESPN.com. Dareus, ranked as the No. 7 prospect for the 2011 NFL draft by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, is the latest prominent college football player to be entangled in an evolving NCAA investigation into illegal contact and conduct by sports agents. "Our [university] compliance people are looking into it," Alabama coach Nick Saban said. Sources told ESPN last week that NCAA investigators have interviewed North Carolina players, including defensive end Marvin Austin, about attending the party. South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders also confirmed to ESPN on Sunday that he recently spoke with NCAA investigators about the same party. 
The NCAA is trying to determine who paid for the players' transportation to Miami, and lodging, food and entertainment while they were there. 

They had a huge memorabilia scandal:

A report alleging NCAA violations involving memorabilia by Alabama players being sold by a Tuscaloosa, Ala., store owner drew a response Thursday night from Alabama director of athletics Bill Battle, as well as a vehement denial from Tom Al-Betar, owner of T-Town Menswear and T-Town Gallery. The story alleges that current Alabama players, including stars Julion Jones, Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson, AJ McCarron, T.J. Yeldon and Amari Cooper, are autographing memorabilia that they know is being sold, an NCAA violation, and potentially profiting from it, as well. It's not the first time Al-Betar has faced the allegation from outkickthecoverage.com, and Alabama sent the booster a formal letter of disassociation by the UA compliance department in 2011. Reached by cbssports.com Thursday, Al-Betar defended his actions, saying that the memorabilia in his shop signed by current players is being brought in by fans."They don't belong to no football players," Al-Betar said. "They sign it over there and they will come here. Most every year they do the same thing." Photos from the shop's Facebook page, however, depicted both current and graduated players signing items in the store, although outkickthecoverage.com provided no evidence of payments to players. It may be up to the NCAA at some point to decide what it all means. On Monday, the T-Town Menswear Facebook page, the source of many of the photos of Albetar and the players, no longer existed. A Twitter message from @ttownmenswear said, "T-Town Menswear is in the process of setting up a new web site, blog and more! Stay tuned for more info."

Their coaches have committed NCAA recruiting violations:

Alabama won't face any further punishment stemming from former Crimson Tide defensive line coach Bo Davis' NCAA violations, the NCAA announced Friday morning. Davis received a two-year show-cause penalty that will be in effect through April 13, 2019. It's a significant punishment that stems from the violations that led to Davis being fired by Alabama last April. According to the NCAA, Davis knowingly committed a recruiting violation when he took part in an impermissible meeting with four prospective recruits that was pre-arranged by a booster. Davis then provided false or misleading information about the meeting and the booster's involvement when questioned by Alabama and the NCAA, according to the NCAA.

So yeah, what's the point of trying to compete if the playing field isn't level. College football isn't fun anymore and it's because the NCAA has allowed Alabama and Nick Saban to monopolize talent in a way that's never happened in the history of the sport. A sport that is almost assuredly as dirty as college basketball.

The bureau was investigating an individual for Security and Exchange Commission violations who was allegedly funneling money to players. That sort of plea-deal whistleblower doesn't exist in college football. Yet. "It's probably manifested itself in football in a slightly different way," said a former NCAA official familiar with the enforcement process. "… You have the same incentive [to cheat], if not moreso, because of the value of a head coaching job at top level of football. "I have no doubt [the same level of cheating] is happening."