<p>I think a little “death penalty” perspective is in order. There’s only been one school to get the so-called NCAA Death Penalty, SMU. At the time SMU was a repeat offender having been sanctioned by the NCAA on a number of occasions for recruiting violations. The death penalty came about for a number of reasons. Athletes were being paid from a slush fund established by a booster. The payments were being overseen and handled by a member of the athletic department staff. Not only that, the investigation went on to show that the SMU Board of Governors knew about the slush fund and only voted to eliminate it over time. The best part of the story was that the payments started 1 month after SMU had been slapped on the wrist by the NCAA. To top it off, the Chairman of the Board of Governors was BIll Clements, who admitted knowing about the fund after he had been elected Governor of the State of Texas. Beautiful - Politicians at work.</p>
<p>What has happened at Miami stinks. It’s hard to imagine that someone on the coaching staff didn’t know about the situation, but so far at least, no one has implied that the administration knew about the payments or in any way set up a system to facilitate those payments. </p>
<p>After cleaning up its 1980’s reputation for being “Convict U” the Miami athletic department has stayed comparatively clean. The current situation doesn’t quite sink to SMU “standards”. That said, the punishment is going to be ugly. The fact that ex-Miami AD Paul Dee, who was around when some of these payments were happening, took a holier than thou approach to sanctioning USC only likely makes the coming punishment worse. </p>
<p>My guess is that the NCAA will cut at least 30 football scholarships (25%) per year for 2-3 years, impose a bowl ban for at least five years and possibly a no TV ban for 3 years. If that’s the case then the athletic department is going to take a major financial hit. It will feel like a death penalty, but at least the program will exist. There are dark times coming; now’s the time for true fans to step up.</p>