When the NCAA allowed Cam Newton to continue to play this season despite the fact that they found evidence that his father attempted to sell him to Mississippi State (and may have to Auburn too), there was a fear that this situation would happen more often as no one was properly punished for the crime committed. But programs that find it necessary to cheat will do so whether they are punished or not. And they are especially likely to cheat when they feel they are up against the wall.
Take Alabama as an example. Now normal people would not consider the successful Tide's football program up against anything, but the pressure is on Nick Saban and his staff to win the national title every year. Add into the mix that Auburn, of all schools, won both the SEC and the national title (or are those the same thing?) this year and the pressure has been amped up. In their eyes Auburn should never win at anything. And so Alabama, despite being on probation for most of the past decade for, among other violations, buying their own player (just one not as good as Cam Newton), bent two significant rules (at least two that I know of as there may have been more) since the close of the regular season. After accepting a bid to the Capital One Bowl, played in Orlando, the Tide made a deal with Dr. Phillips High School of Orlando to use their facilities for practice. That is not so bizarre. Dr. Phillips, alma mater of Johnny Damon among other pro athletes, has been rented before by college teams preparing for bowl games. Built in the late 1980s the high school has plenty of amenities. The problem is that Alabama recruits Dr. Phillips, which sits right in the middle of Florida, hard and has the two best players from a 14-1 team, signed to play for them. In fact, S Ha'Sean Clinton-Dix of Dr. Phillips is rated as the no. 1 recruit for the Tide by ESPN, while teammate RB Dee Hart, who decommitted from Michigan late in 2010, is tied for 5th in the Tide's stellar class and is the top back. Making matters worse, Alabama coach Nick Saban left a nice Christmas present for the school in addition to the justifiable fee for playing there. Alabama overhauled the field and the locker rooms at Dr. Phillips. The Tide justified their actions by declaring that they did not want any of their players injured, which of course begs two questions. Then why did you book a high school field when their are numerous colleges in the area? Who exactly would have been injured by the paint job in the locker room, which was one of the changes made?
This really is minor stuff compared to some of the allegations thrown at SEC teams each year. But being that Alabama has been put on probation multiple times in the 2000s and was on probation when they won the 2009 national title, you think they would not do things that are so blatant. And, of course, Hart officially signed on for 2011 after Alabama left. Meanwhile his high school coaches and teammates had to be impressed with the upgrade to facilities that were deemed some of the best in central Florida before Alabama showed up.
But Saban had more tricks up his sleeve regarding future recruiting classes. Soon after his team handily dispatched Michigan State in the bowl game, Saban was invited to talk to some high school coaches in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. At first glance that seems fine as one could certainly see why some high school coaches would want one of the more successful college coaches around dropping by to pay a visit. Except of course that we were still in the quiet zone of no visits to seniors (as Auburn and Oregon were still to play and they were too busy to recruit). But that was fine as Alabama was not recruiting any seniors from OKC Heritage Hall. But there is a highly sought after junior attending that school who happens to have a famous father--Barry Sanders, Jr, one of the studs of next year's recruiting class. The official rule concerning high school juniors is that a college coach or representative cannot have an extended conversation with any of them before July 1 of their senior year unless they, the player, comes to your camp or school. So Saban could go to Heritage Hall but he could not speak to Sanders, Jr and the mission of his trip had to be something other than talking to the kid. But as anyone paying attention to recruiting knows, Saban is a master at "accidentally" bumping into recruits on the road. The NCAA has even made rules about bumping into recruits more stringent because of him and the "Saban Rule" took coaches off the recruiting trail for long stretches of the spring as the kids do have to go to school some time. But here was Saban bumping into a superstar back with impeccable bloodlines days after his own superstar back with impeccable bloodlines, Mark Ingram, opted for a pro career (or an officially professional career). Saban was allowed to say hello but was supposed to move on quickly. But Sanders admitted that Saban's conversation with him was long enough to include the coach telling him that Ingram was going pro before Ingram's official announcement, that Alabama needed him with Richardson possibly having only one more season (what no mention of Dee Hart?) and that they discussed his, Sanders's, recent foot surgery. All of that is not only a violation--although admittedly a minor one--but is driving Oklahoma State, who feels that Sanders belongs to them, crazy. Oh and the high school coaches admitted that Saban never watched film of their team with them to give them advice but just toured the school and left.
Now neither of these events are major violations. But they do lay bare the arrogance big programs like Alabama have when breaking rules in front of everyone and the lack of a firestorm to stop this crap from happening. Was a big deal made about either event? No--at least outside of Oklahoma and perhaps Gainesville and Auburn--and that is because like steroids in baseball, fans assume that everyone cheats in recruiting so why shouldn't Alabama, and because the big media outlets do not want to piss off Saban for fear of lack of access. And so it all continues despite an occasional fine or time on probation. And Saban knows that, like Pete Carroll, if the NCAA does investigate his program he can hightail it to another job (there are already rumors about him talking to the Tennessee Titan floating around) for a ton of money. He has absolutely no motivation--beyond a personal code of ethics--to play by the rules. And it is hard to see evidence of his own desire to be honest and forthright about anything.
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