Hot on the heels of the Supreme Court's striking down DOMA, the NCAA ruled on the University of Oregon concerning the "Willie Lyles case." The Ducks found themselves in a recruiting violations controversy for having paid a recruiting service for information on recruits who eventually matriculated to the school.
The NCAA ruled today to spare the Ducks from any post-season bans and will dock them only one scholarship. Their reasoning was that Oregon coach Chip Kelly failed to keep track of recruits and Lyles, but kept enough distance between all parties to be able to avoid getting crushed under the dreaded "lack of institutional control."
The NCAA could only slap Oregon on the wrist since they could never prove Kelly had any direct exchanges with Lyles about money for players. It's hard to believe that one of the best coaches in the country didn't know exactly what was going on with his program. But, as it was said on Twitter, Chip Kelly’s legacy is that he was always one step ahead of the competition.
Chip Kelly's legacy is cemented -- he was always one step ahead.
— Dan Rubenstein (@DanRubenstein) June 26, 2013
The only party getting any serious punishment is Kelly, who was slapped with a 18-month show-cause penalty that is rendered moot since Kelly, like USC coach Pete Carroll before him, has jettisoned off to the NFL.
Carroll presided over a University of Southern California team that got slapped with the NCAA's dreaded "lack of institutional control," a designation that hollowed out the Trojan program.
The NCAA's apparent belief that the actions of a few bad apples who can flee the program at will should punish past, current, and future Trojans would be considered utterly bizarre in any other arena of justice. The sanctions levied by the NCAA in USC's case punished none of the parties involved. The NCAA wanted to show everyone that they’re still relevant in a rapidly shifting world.
In Oregon’s case, the NCAA’s stick avoided doing any major damage. But they also failed to punish the guilty parties.