Tag: probation

Jim Harbaugh looks on during Michigan's national championship celebration.

Michigan agrees to 3-year probation for recruiting violations

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Michigan will serve three years of probation after reaching an agreement with the NCAA over recruiting violations and coaching activities by noncoaching staff members, the NCAA announced Tuesday.

Michigan will face recruiting restrictions and pay a fine in relation to violations from five current or former football employees.

The penalties include a one-year show-cause order for all five individuals.

“Today’s joint resolution pertains to the University of Michigan Athletic Department and several former and current employees,” Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement. “We are pleased to reach a resolution on this matter so that our student-athletes and our football program can move forward. We have no additional information and cannot comment further on other aspects of the NCAA’s inquiries.”

The NCAA said that former coach Jim Harbaugh — who guided the team to the College Football Playoff title in January — isn’t part in the agreement.

“The agreed-upon violations involve impermissible in-person recruiting contacts during a COVID-19 dead period, impermissible tryouts, and the program exceeding the number of allowed countable coaches when noncoaching staff members engaged in on- and off-field coaching activities (including providing technical and tactical skills instruction to student-athletes),” the NCAA said in a statement.

“The negotiated resolution also involved the school’s agreement that the underlying violations demonstrated a head coach responsibility violation and the former football head coach failed to meet his responsibility to cooperate with the investigation. The school also agreed that it failed to deter and detect the impermissible recruiting contacts and did not ensure that the football program adhered to rules for noncoaching staff members.”

Harbaugh is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

“I filed a lengthy response to the (Notice of Allegations) on behalf of Coach Harbaugh, which unfortunately hasn’t been made public and will probably never see the light of day,” Tom Mars, Harbaugh’s attorney, told ESPN. “That concluded Coach Harbaugh’s participation in the case.”

Harbaugh served a three-game suspension at the beginning of the 2023 season after the NCAA felt he made false statements during the investigation. Then-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore served a one-game suspension. Moore is now the Wolverines’ head coach.

Tuesday’s developments are unrelated to the Michigan sign-stealing investigation. That case is ongoing. Harbaugh also served a three-game suspension in that case.

–Field Level Media

Sep 16, 2023; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Florida State Seminoles offensive coordinator Alex Atkins speaks to the team during the second half against the Boston College Eagles at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

NCAA puts FSU football on probation for NIL violation

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The NCAA put the Florida State football team on a two-year probation and issued other penalties Thursday for violation of name, image and likeness rules.

The Seminoles also must disassociate from their NIL collective, known as Rising Spear, for a year, and an unnamed booster can’t have contact with the program for three years.

In addition, an unnamed Florida State assistant coach was suspended for three regular-season games and handed a two-year show cause order. According to Yahoo Sports, the coach involved is offensive coordinator Alex Atkins.

The sanctions are the first handed out in relation to the two-plus years since NIL benefits became permissible.

According to the NCAA, the unnamed coach transported a player in the transfer portal, who was considering moving to Florida State, to a spring 2022 meeting with the head of booster who was the chief executive officer of Rising Spear. The booster offered the player around $15,000 per month if he were to enroll at Florida State. The player eventually decided to stay at his previous school.

The assistant coach was only partially truthful in his explanation of the events during an investigation by the school’s enforcement office, the NCAA ruled.

The NCAA’s penalties also include:

–A $5,000 fine in addition to 1 percent of the school’s football budget.

–A 5 percent reduction in football scholarships over the two-year probationary period, which will equate to five scholarships.

–Seven fewer official (paid) visits will be allowed in 2023-24, and six unused official visits from the 2022-23 school year won’t be permitted to roll over.

–Football recruiting communications will be cut by six weeks during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.

–In-person recruiting days will be limited during the 2023-24 school year.

Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell was not implicated in any wrongdoing.

–Field Level Media

Sep 23, 2022; Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; Air Force cadets finish pushups following a score in the second quarter against the Nevada Wolf Pack at Falcon Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Air Force football gets probation for recruiting violations

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The NCAA put the Air Force football program on probation for two years Thursday for recruiting violations during COVID-19 dead periods.

In addition to an unspecified fine, the Falcons also face reductions in official and unofficial visits as well as a cut in the size of the roster by 10 players for four years, per ESPN.

The Action Network first reported in May that the academy was under investigation for hosting high school prospects on campus during dead periods in 2020 and providing the recruits with improper benefits.

Four of the individuals involved in the investigation, reportedly including former defensive line coach Bill Sheridan, have reached an agreement with the NCAA enforcement staff about penalties. A fifth individual is challenging the allegations and faces a hearing with the Division I Committee on Infractions.

Air Force (3-1, 1-1 Mountain West) hosts Navy (1-2, 1-1 American Athletic Conference) on Saturday.

–Field Level Media

Nov 13, 2021; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA; A general overall view of Tiger Stadium during a game between the LSU Tigers and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

NCAA slaps LSU football with probation for recruiting violation

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The NCAA put LSU’s football program on one-year probation for rules violations committed by former offensive line coach James Cregg.

Cregg, who worked under former head coach Ed Orgeron for three seasons, visited with a prospect and provided him with used team gear during the recruiting dead period forced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The former assistant director of recruiting also drove the prospect to campus for a stadium tour and gave him more used gear.

These events occurred in September 2020, when the recruiting dead period was in place for health and safety reasons, as well as to level the playing field for schools in regions with different public policies regarding the virus.

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions issued its ruling on Thursday.

“Although the [committee] has encountered more egregious conduct in past cases, the violations in this case represent intentional misconduct that should be of concern to the membership,” the NCAA panel said. “The COVID-19 recruiting dead period was intended to protect the health and safety of prospects, student-athletes and institutional staff. It also leveled the playing field for recruiting at a time when government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions varied across the country.”

LSU also will follow self-imposed penalties: a $5,000 fine, a one-week ban on unofficial visits, a limit of 55 official visits and a week-long period of no recruiting communications.

Cregg, now an assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers, also was given a three-year show-cause order. Any school that might hire him must show the NCAA why he shouldn’t be prohibited to take part in any off-campus recruiting activities.

Cregg sued LSU for breach of contract after his termination “for cause.” He claimed the NCAA hadn’t, to that point, ruled he had committed a rules infraction, and the court issued an award of nearly $500,000 in his favor. LSU has appealed.

–Field Level Media

Jan 1, 2021; Arlington, TX, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Brian Kelly looks on in the fourth quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the Rose Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Notre Dame fined $5K, placed on one-year probation

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The NCAA put Notre Dame on probation and fined the Fighting Irish $5,000 for multiple minor recruiting violations, the Committee on Infractions announced Thursday.

The NCAA also handed out a few minor recruiting restrictions as well.

“Any violation of NCAA rules is unacceptable and Notre Dame takes full responsibility for its actions in this regard,” Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick said in a statement. “While we made clear to the NCAA that our view that the agreed-upon penalties exceeded the nature of the infractions, we accept the final outcome of the case.”

The penalties stem from a former assistant coach’s impermissible off-campus contact with a high school player in 2019 and his impermissible text messages to a different 2021 recruit, and coach Brian Kelly’s impermissible contact with a recruit in October 2019. In that case, Kelly posed with the player for a photo in Pickerington, Ohio.

Notre Dame and the committee agreed to the penalties through the NCAA’s negotiated resolution process.

The former assistant, who also sent the impermissible texts, was fired by ND in January 2020. He was given a show-cause through July 2021.

The assistant, per the ruling, “met privately with the prospect at his high school before July 1 after the completion of his junior year of high school. During that meeting, the former assistant coach expressed the school’s interest in recruiting the prospect. The former assistant football coach also had exchanged impermissible text messages with another prospect on 10 occasions.”

According to the report, the assistant mistakenly thought the recipient of his text messages was a 2020 recruit instead of an actual 2021 prospect.

The recruiting restrictions meted out include reduced football official visits for the 2020-21 academic year by one, reduced football unofficial visits by 14 days for the 2020-21 academic year, and a seven-day off-campus recruiting ban for the entire football staff during the 2020-21 academic year.

–Field Level Media

Jul 25, 2019; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Terrelle Pryor (10) enters the field during training camp at Dream Finders Home Practice Complex. Mandatory Credit: Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports

WR Pryor gets probation in stabbing-related case

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Free-agent NFL wide receiver Terrelle Pryor was sentenced to 90 days’ probation for his involvement in an altercation in which he was stabbed.

The incident occurred in Pittsburgh last November. He was charged with misdemeanor simple assault, which was dropped when he agreed to plead guilty to a harassment change in Allegheny County Court on Tuesday.

At the time, authorities said he assaulted his girlfriend in his apartment, who then stabbed him in the shoulder and chest. He underwent surgery to repair his wounds.

The woman, Shalaya Briston, was charged with aggravated assault and criminal attempt homicide. On Tuesday, she entered a guilty plea to the lesser charge of simple assault and placed on probation for two years, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

“I’m very pleased, and everyone involved is happy to … put this to bed and move on to the next chapter of their lives,” said Stephen Colafella, Pryor’s attorney, told the newspaper. He said the two remain involved romantically.

Pryor, a former Ohio State quarterback, played for five teams since entering the league as a quarterback in 2011 and later transitioning to wide receiver. He was released by a sixth team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, before the start of the 2019 season.

Now 31, Pryor was 3-7-0 as a starting quarterback, completing 175 passes for 1,994 yards with nine touchdowns as 12 interceptions. As a receiver and rusher, he accounted for 2,209 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns.

His best year came in 2016 with the Cleveland Browns, when he caught 77 passes for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.

–Field Level Media