With a few threads about the Reggie Bush thing and some folks comparing our infractions in the 90's to SMU's, I was wondering what SMU actually did to get the death penalty. I have heard different things and dont know what to believe. It's too bad too. I went to SMU as a freshman before transferring to the good guys and most of the students there have no idea that SMU ever had a winning tradition. They don't know about Dickerson and James and the Pony Express, or even that the statue in front of their stadium is of one of the best football players of all time that the top running back trophy is named after in Doak Walker.

Becuase the school, at the highest levels (the board of regents included) knowingly paid players. In fact, after getting caught initially and put on probation, the board decided they had to keep on paying the players that the NCAA didn't find out about, lest they talk.

BOMC

They took out everybody in the 80s

SMU even argued that they were obligated to pay the present players until they graduated to fulfill their agreement.

The Governor of Texas at the time was a SMU grad. He was even paying $$$ to players and "assisting" in helping them attain female companionship.

It went deep. Living quarters. Automobiles. Ca$h. Women. Various other "emegency" needs. They had a higher payroll than the Dallas Cowboys.

It included two head coaches (Collins and Meyers), the upper administration, and their alumni.

[This message has been edited by oklacityag75 (edited 1/12/2008 11:13a).]

Gross negligence/infractions from SMU and the NCAA had the ability to impose the death penalty. They will not do it again. They were also not one of the NCAA's "darlings".

Bottom line - SMU cheated at the wrong time.

.....SMU got nuked because Clements was a slime-ball.

The SMU Recruiting Violations
Violation: 21 players allegedly received approximately $61,000 in cash payments, with the assistance of athletics department staff members, from funds provided by a booster. Payments ranged from $50 to $725 per month and occurred while SMU was on probation, making them eligible for the so-called "death penalty" as repeat violators.

http://people.smu.edu/adedo/Default.htm



[This message has been edited by aggiemom93 (edited 1/12/2008 10:13a).]

Specifically, SMU received the death penalty because they were the first school to qualify under the legislation. They first were found in violation of NCAA regs, then in the 5 year period following the first incident, they were found to have engaged in major infractions. They were labeled "repeat offenders" and the MANDATORY sanctions under the legislation at that time was the death penalty.

The financial hit taken by both SMU and the SWC was such that the NCAA knew they could not continue with the Death Penalty being the mandatory sanction for those programs labeled "Repeat Violators" (ie. those schools found to have engaged in major infractions within 5 years of a previous finding of major infractions). The NCAA turned to long time NCAA partner, Constitutional Scholar and tu law professor, Charles Allen Wright to lead the effort to retain the "Death Penalty" legislation but allow for mitigating factors to be considered in applying less than the maximum penalty.

Subsequent to these changes, Texas A&M became the first school to "test" the changes when, following the 1988 infractions, the basketball program was found to have engaged in major infractions of NCAA regulations. The NCAA used the actions by the much-maligned William Mobley to mitigate the penalties and not apply the death penalty despite the program being labeled a "Repeat Violator". Again, in 1994, Texas A&M tested the "Repeat Violator" designation when the football program was penalized for the actions resulting in multiple football players receiving $17,000 + of unearned income from a prominent booster...some received the money before they became students. Again, the NCAA used the actions taken by the then long gone William Mobley as a reason to not apply the Death Penalty to the Texas A&M football program.

Bottom line is that SMU had the misfortune to be the first and not the second program to run afoul of the Repeat Violator designation.

SMU continued to pay players after they were already on probation.

Former Governor Bill Clements (an SMU alum) purportedly said something to the effect that: "we made a deal with these young men" as reason for continuing the payments.

Yes, SMU was unfortunate on the timing, but their violations were a whole order of magnitude more severe than those at A&M. Timing wasn't the only difference by a long shot.

SMU had kicked a player off their team that they were paying. He used the money to buy drugs and became a drug addict while at smu. He tried to get back on the team but they wouldnt let him. So then he turned them in. Also TCU started there own fund to compete with SMU. They started bidding against smu for players. Also the the payments had to continue to the players or the players would turn in smu it was like blackmail. It was no we made a deal with them and we need to honor it crap.

interesting read from wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_penalty_%28NCAA%29

/of course, when is wikipedia not interesting?

According to Wikipedia:

quote:

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Southern Methodist University Football, 1986-88
SMU football had already been placed on three years' probation in 1985, but in 1986 faced allegations that players were being paid. The alleged violations were: 21 players allegedly received approximately $61,000 in cash payments, with the assistance of athletic department staff members, from funds provided by a booster. Payments ranged from $50 to $725 per month from Ralph Rodriquez of Orange Park Florida and occurred while SMU was on probation. Also, SMU officials lied to NCAA officials about when the payments stopped.

As a result:

The 1987 season was cancelled.
All home games in 1988 were cancelled. SMU was allowed to play their seven regularly scheduled away games so that other institutions would not be financially affected. The university would ultimately choose not to do so (see below).
SMU was banned from bowl games and television in 1988 and 1989.
The team's existing probation was extended two more years, to 1990.
SMU lost 55 new scholarship positions over 4 years.
The team was only allowed to hire five full-time assistant coaches, instead of the typical nine.
The infractions committee cited the need to "eliminate a program that was built on a legacy of wrongdoing, deceit and rule violations" as a factor in what is still the harshest penalty ever meted out to any major collegiate program. It also cited SMU's past history of violations; at the time SMU had been on probation seven times, more than any other school.

All recruits and players were allowed to transfer without losing eligibility and most did, so new coach Forrest Gregg was left with an underweight lineup made up mostly of freshmen. As a result, SMU canceled the 1988 season as well, claiming it was unable to field a competitive team.





[edit] Fallout
Before the "death penalty" was instituted, SMU was a storied program in college football, with a Heisman Trophy winner (Doak Walker in 1949), one national championship and 10 Southwest Conference titles. The Mustangs compiled 52-19-1 record from 1980 until 1986, including an undefeated season in 1982.

Afterwards, players were reluctant to attend a school with a history of such major recruiting violations. In addition, the loss of 55 scholarships meant that it would be 1992 before the Mustangs were able to field a team with a full complement of scholarship players; it would be another year before it fielded a team comprised entirely of players unaffected by the scandal.

Since 1989 SMU has only defeated 2 ranked teams, has only 1 winning season, and is 58-153-3.[1] The death penalty decimated the Southwest Conference's reputation and finances, contributing to the collapse of the entire conference in 1996. One of the most memorable quotes about the death penalty came from former University of Florida President John Lombardi, now president of the Louisiana State University System: "SMU taught the committee that the death penalty is too much like the atomic bomb. It's like what happened after we dropped the (atom) bomb in World War II. The results were so catastrophic that now we'll do anything to avoid dropping another one.”[2]

Author and columnist David Whitford wrote and published the book "A Payroll to Meet: Greed, Scandal, and Football at Southern Methodist University." It is an account of both the death penalty and SMU football in the 1980's. It chronicles Ron Meyer's and Bobby Collins' success at SMU in the early 80's and the scandals that brought about the NCAA punishment on February 25th, 1987.

---

Several months ago, one of the sports talk AM stations up here had an attorney on their program. He had been on the NCAA infractions investigation commitee.

He made a very bold claim that I had always believed. The NCAA in the 60's, 70's, 80's, and into the 90's had FOUR sacred cows. These schools could not be investigated for or placed on any major probation. Care to guess who they were...?....

1.) Bear Bryant at Alabama.
2.) Frank Broyles at Rcansaw
3.) Joe Paterno at Penn State
and...any guesses...think real hard....
think to 1990 wrist slaps...who?...yes!
4.) tu with Darrell Royal.

These four programs were "Untouchable" as long as these people are or were connected to the program. The NCAA is more compromised than the political parties. Dirty...Dirty...Dirty.

Very good friends of mine played at tu. They were well taken care of. It was wide spread and very common knowledge. My friends were very frank and open about it. No big deal to them, just the standard operational procedure.

because they are not a well known national power and the death penalty did not matter to the rest of the NCAA.

Big programs are exempt from harsh punishments cause they help bring in massive amounts of money.

All kidding aside, Darrel Royal belongs in pridon.

There is a great book called "Payroll to Meet" that runs through the entire thing.

It was really interesting and a pretty good read.

My least favorite part was the picture of Eric Dickerson and his Trans-AM.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Check out "Texas A&M & Baseball In No Particular Order"
at tamu-and-baseball.com

They used to call it "280z U" cause a car dealer was supplying all the players with 280z's. They used to park 'em all around Owenby Stadium.

Notre Dame did the same thing that SMU did and got caught. Nothing happened.

Truth in shortest form, Gov. Clements, thought it would be wrong to break a contract.

No one will ever get the death penalty again. Good to see SMU boosters step up and make a commitment to get a good coach. Anyone that wants to play in a pass only offense now has another choice besides Tech. This hurts Tech more than anyone.

SMU as a national championship contender was not good for the NCAA in terms of viewership. They had a small alumni base and very little public interest in comparison to schools such as UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, tu, etc. It made business sense for the NCAA to give them the death penalty.

By the way, there was a kid named Harvey Williams that almost came to Aggieland, but made a late decision to go to LSU. The front page of the Dallas Morning News had a picture of the happy recuit standing in front of his mother's house. Not to be condescending, but it was nothing more than a small shack in Hemptstead. And in front of the shack was a brand new Trans Am (gold, with T tops). And leaning on the car was the proud owner, 18 year old Harvey Williams. The article went on and on about Harvey, but not a comment was made about how this high school kid who apparently lived in such dire financial circumstances could suddenly afford a new Trans Am. Yet only a few years later the sports writers from the Dallas Morning News were taking it upon themelves to actively investigate several of the Aggie players.

"Several months ago, one of the sports talk AM stations up here had an attorney on their program. He had been on the NCAA infractions investigation commitee.

He made a very bold claim that I had always believed. The NCAA in the 60's, 70's, 80's, and into the 90's had FOUR sacred cows. These schools could not be investigated for or placed on any major probation. Care to guess who they were...?....

1.) Bear Bryant at Alabama.
2.) Frank Broyles at Rcansaw
3.) Joe Paterno at Penn State
and...any guesses...think real hard....
think to 1990 wrist slaps...who?...yes!
4.) tu with Darrell Royal.

These four programs were "Untouchable" as long as these people are or were connected to the program. The NCAA is more compromised than the political parties. Dirty...Dirty...Dirty.

Very good friends of mine played at tu. They were well taken care of. It was wide spread and very common knowledge. My friends were very frank and open about it. No big deal to them, just the standard operational procedure."

Seems either your friend was lying or you misunderstood him:

---

Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Date: 12-APR-65

Facts Summary: Improper recruiting entertainment, inducements, lodging and transportation.

Violation Summary: Improper recruiting entertainment, inducements, lodging and transportation.

Penalty Summary: Public reprimand and probation.

----

Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Date: 12-OCT-82

Facts Summary: Complimentary tickets; improper recruiting inducement.

Violation Summary: Complimentary tickets; improper recruiting inducement.

Penalty Summary: None.

----

Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Date: 17-JUN-87

Facts Summary: Improper entertainment, financial aid, lodging and transportation; extra benefits; complimentary tickets; improper recruiting contact, employment, entertainment, inducements and transportation; institutional control; certification of compliance.

Violation Summary: Improper entertainment, financial aid, lodging and transportation; extra benefits; complimentary tickets; improper recruiting contact, employment, entertainment, inducements and transportation; institutional control; certification of compliance.

Penalty Summary: Maximum of 20 initial grants for 1988-89; maximum of 75 official visits for 1987-88.

----

That's 3 investigations of tu during the 60s and the 70s.

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Institution: University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
Date: 05-JAN-64

Facts Summary: Improper recruiting contact.

Violation Summary: Improper recruiting contact.

Penalty Summary: Public reprimand.

-------

That's one against Alabama.

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Institution: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Date: 12-APR-65

Facts Summary: Improper recruiting entertainment, inducements and transportation.

Violation Summary: Improper recruiting entertainment, inducements and transportation.

Penalty Summary: Public reprimand and probation.

----

...and that's one against Arkiesaw.

I've not found one "I've got a friend" report that has ever held water.

Penbrook: I've heard the 280z U thing before, but I saw Craig James drive off from a frat party in a Porsche. 280z's must've been for the scrubs. Then again, they didn't have many scrubs at that time. The frat party in question was after a shellacking of the good guys at Texas Stadium in 1982. Gary Kubiak carried off the field, replaced by John Elkins. Eric Dickerson had 200 yards on 14 carries, and still said after the game that he had never been hit that hard. Must have hurt running into the goal post pads after one of his 80 yard TDs. Those were the days . . .

Reality is that the NCAA is more likely to impose stricter sanctions against a smaller private school than a larger state school. That was SMU's misfortune. Yes, they were guilty of rule violations but so were a lot of other schools.

Exactly. The Pony Express was gone, but not forgotten, so the NCAA got to show their muscle without costing themselves a dime.

'Bama's status as untouchable expired during the DuBose era and the legendarily infamous recruiting of Albert Means. If there was ever a case post-SMU that entered for real death penalty discussions, it was that one.

Essentially, one could say SMU paid for the sins of the entire SWC. One could also say that by extension, to save their own individual hides the members sacrificed the entire conference to avoid major sanctions on their programs.

I think SMU was actually on probation 3 times during the 1980's. The first time was in 1981. They won the conference but were inelibible to play in the Cotton Bowl

The 2nd time was the 84-85 timeframe. And then the big one in 87-88.

The key is that they kept doing it after being caught.

----
With regard to Craig James, he is kind of the teflon guy on all this. I do wonder what it took to get him to SMU. The ponies weren't that good in 1978, the season before he would have committed (was a fish in 1979).

quote:

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Bama's status as untouchable expired during the DuBose era and the legendarily infamous recruiting of Albert Means

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Yeah and I still think the ONLY reason they got nailed was because that story was blown wide open nationally and shown in depth to the whole country. I still remember that HBO special that Gumble did (and I can't stand him). I bet if it hadn't been covered like that, things would have been swept under the rug rather quickly.

I am not normally a conspiracy theorist, but I do believe the NCAA is more crooked than my Terraplane's fenders.

One other thing.... I remember going to the game at Kyle one year when SMU would normally have been there. I can't remember if it was 87 or 88. Anyway, we scheduled some nancy school to take their place, but we still hosted what was left of SMU's band at halftime. There may have only been a couple dozen people in that band, but they played exceptionally well.... and in a moment that defined how proud I am to be a part of the Aggie family, they received a standing ovation when they were finished.

Very touching.

[This message has been edited by Boozoo (edited 1/13/2008 1:24a).]