College football roundup: Ohio State president in hot water over comments
Ohio State University's board of trustees said one more embarrassing vocal slip-up from President E. Gordon Gee could cost him his job.
In a March 11 letter signed by two of the universities top trustees on behalf of the entire board, Gee was told he embarrassed the university with insensitive comments made during a Dec. 5 meeting of the school's Athletic Council and laid out steps he must make going forward. News of that letter came as additional controversial comments made by Gee surfaced Friday.
Gee has apologized for taking verbal shots at Notre Dame, Catholics, the Southeastern Conference and multiple schools in other conferences during a half-hour speech - comments that initially became public Thursday. In the letter signed by Chairman Robert H. Schottenstein and Trustee Alex Shumate, Gee was told his comments diminished his work and that of the university as a whole, and asked him to issue personal apologies in addition to hiring a "coach" to work on his "global presence and voice," according to the Columbus Dispatch.
A recording of Gee's December comments was obtained by SI.com. Among the most controversial remarks was the following: "And I want to make it very clear, we have never invited Notre Dame to join the Big Ten," Gee said, per the website. "And the reason is the fact that they - first of all they're not very good partners. I'll just say that. I negotiated with them during my first term and the fathers are holy on Sunday and they're holy hell on the rest of the week. You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or Friday. Literally, I can say that."
---Virginia quarterback Phillip Sims is leaving the school after he was deemed ineligible.
Coach Mike London made the announcement through a statement released by the school. Sims, who transferred from Alabama, will leave Virginia after his summer school session ends.
---Navy is investigating three members of its football program who are accused of sexually assaulting a female student, military.com reported Thursday.
The academy is not releasing the names of the players involved, details of the alleged assault or when the investigation began.
---Texas A&M athletic director Eric Hyman told the Houston Chronicle that because of the uncertainty of the SEC schedule, the school cancelled scheduled games against USC.
In 2009, the Aggies scheduled the home-and-home games with the Trojans to be played in 2015 and 2016. However, Texas A&M's move from the Big 12 to the SEC forced the Aggies to reconsider their nonconference schedule.
