Rutgers gets probation for failing to monitor football program
— -- Rutgers?was punished with two years of probation, among other sanctions, after the NCAA Committee on Infractions ruled Friday that the university failed to monitor its football program and that former coach Kyle Flood took "a casual approach" to NCAA rules during his tenure.
The laundry list of failures that came under Flood's watch included positive drug tests that went unreported, a recruit-hosting group that didn't follow NCAA guidelines, attempts to influence players' grades, recruiting violations committed by an assistant coach and members of the football program lying to NCAA investigators.
Rutgers' probation begins immediately and will expire on Sept. 21, 2019. The NCAA also issued a $5,000 fine to the university and a one-year show-cause order for Flood and the former assistant coach who committed recruiting violations.
In the coming year, should any school want to hire Flood, who is now an assistant offensive line coach for the Atlanta Falcons, it would have to provide evidence for why his involvement with football should not be limited.
The penalties issued Friday added relatively little to the self-imposed sanctions that the school put on its future recruiting efforts this past spring after reviewing its own shortcomings. In a response to the NCAA allegations, Rutgers issued a report in April that said "it is clear that violations occurred" and the school bears responsibility for them.
"The obligation of all member institutions in the NCAA is to participate fully in these kinds of investigations," said Gary Miller, who was the chief hearing officer for the NCAA in this case. "Certainly Rutgers met that obligation."
Flood and former athletic director Julie Hermann were both ousted at Rutgers the day after the 2015 football season ended -- more than a year before the NCAA sent a notice of allegations to the university. The Scarlet Knights were 4-8 that year while dealing with a string of player arrests and an incident where Flood unsuccessfully tried to arrange extra opportunities for one of his players to pass a course that would make him academically eligible for the 2015 season.
Flood served a three-game suspension during the 2015 season when those allegations were made public. His suspension was included as part of the self-imposed sanctions that Rutgers announced this past April.
Rutgers also decided to host only 36 official visits in the coming year -- the NCAA maximum is 62, but the Scarlet Knights hosted an average of 40 prospects per year during the past four seasons. In addition, the university took away 10 off-campus recruiting days.
The new staff, led by coach Chris Ash, will also have one week this academic year when they are not allowed to contact prospects via telephone, social media or written mail.
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