Unsealed docs in McNair case show NCAA's attitude to USC
The NCAA filed almost 500 pages of unsealed documents in a California court on Tuesday and they show people on the NCAA's infractions committee didn't have the highest opinion of USC.
The filing is part of the defamation lawsuit filed against the sanctioning body by former USC coach Todd McNair as a result of the Reggie Bush scandal. The NCAA had fought to keep the documents sealed, saying future investigations could be hurt if the documents were opened up.
In February, a California appeals court ruled the documents should be unsealed.
McNair was given a show-cause penalty for his role in the penalties handed down to USC in June 2010 – both Bush and basketball player O.J. Mayo were found to have accepted benefits from agents – and hasn't coached in football since. McNair worked as running backs coach under Pete Carroll, and according to filings, said he was set to be retained by Lane Kiffin, the Trojans' former offensive coordinator hired to replace Carroll. He wasn't after the show-cause, which barred him from any contact with recruits for a year.
And speaking of Kiffin, he's a perfect example of how members of the committee viewed USC. (You can view the entire 500-page document here.)
Rodney Uphoff, a non-voting member of the NCAA infractions committee and coordinator of appeals, made a comparison of evidence in the Bush and USC case to evidence in the Oklahoma City bombing before poking Kiffin's hiring. Uphoff was appointed to represent Terry Nichols in the OKC case.
"The evidence in this case is, for example, markedly stronger than the OKC bombing case which was built entirely on circumstantial evidence," Uphoff wrote. "In fact, there was no direct evidences that Nichols was ever involved in the bombing plot. The most damning evidence in the OKC case was the statement by Michael Fortier, a co-conspirator, that Tim McVeigh said 'that if I wouldn't help him, Terry Nichols would.'"
He later referenced Kiffin.
"Although they all talked about the importance of compliance at the hearing, winning at any cost seems more important. Paul Dee was bought in at Miami to clean up a program with serious problems. USC has responded to its problems by brining in Lane Kiffin. They need a wakeup call that doing things the wrong way will have serious consequences In light of all the problems at USC, a failure to send a serious message in this case undercuts efforts to help clean up NCAA sports."
Roscoe Howard, another nonvoting member of the committee, also knocked the Kiffin hiring.
"The University only acts through its employees, and they should be credited with the acts of McNair. Lack of Institutional control, especially when you add the later appearance of Orenstein and those issues, the admission with the O.J. Mayo scenario (and do we add the hiring of Lane Kiffin?), is a very easy call to me."
Howard also is cited as wanting to make an example out of USC and Bush, the Heisman-winning running back. He also wrote "A failure to sanction USC in both basketball and football rewards USC for swimming with sharks."
Howard and Uphoff weren't indicative of the entire panel, however. One member said it was "challenging" to find evidence of wrongdoing by McNair, though he subsequently said he would defer to others.
"It is challenging for me to make the finding when there is no allegation that he personally was involved in any rules violations, or even had specific knowledge of any." Britton Banowsky wrote in an email in March 2010.
"That's why this is a tough one. But I will defer to others on it."
Another wondered why the discussions were being held on email and easily accessible via public record at public institutions.
The sanctions imposed on USC from the investigation expired in 2014 and appeals for a reduction of penalties while they were still in effect were denied.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
