Former Rutgers coach Kyle Flood given one-year show-cause penalty
The NCAA said Friday that Rutgers and former coach Kyle Flood failed to monitor its football program.
The NCAA’s decision on allegations of recruiting and drug testing violations and Flood’s conduct regarding an academic matter came Friday. Flood was given a one-year show-cause penalty after the NCAA ruled that Rutgers “failed to ensure that the football student-ambassadors’ recruiting activities were permissible” and “failed to follow its established drug-testing policy with respect to 32 football student-athletes” from 2011-12 to 2015-16.
Flood’s penalty also stems from his “attempt to arrange additional coursework for a football student-athlete [Nadir Barnwell] in an effort to raise that student-athlete’s failing grade and maintain his eligibility.”
By working directly with the instructor in the case, Flood was in violation of Rutgers policy. He was suspended for three games in 2015 and fined $50,000. After his suspension, Flood issued a statement where he took “full responsibility” and accepted the suspension.
Rutgers football ambassador program allegedly committed recruiting violations via social media.
“He exercised little, if any oversight of the group, permitting the recruiting staff to administer the program with no supervision. The panel noted that, upon being promoted to head coach, the head coach never had a conversation with the previous head football coach or compliance office regarding the structure or function of the football ambassador program and its permissibility under NCAA legislation. In addition, the head coach acknowledged that there were no written procedures pertaining to the football ambassadors and their activities. As the individual who had ultimate oversight of all aspects of the football program, it is implicit that the head coach was also responsible for the actions of football ambassadors and, ultimately, the violations they committed. At the hearing, the head coach appeared to recognize this, acknowledging during the discussion of the football ambassadors that he was responsible for all aspects of the football program.”
The NCAA also says Rutgers didn’t follow drug-testing protocol in multiple ways. The program is accused of incorrectly classifying positive drug tests, failing to implement “required corrective or disciplinary action under its drug-testing policy” and that “at times, the medical staff did not notify the director of athletics of positive tests.”
In addition to the show-cause penalty for Flood, a former assistant coach was given a show-cause penalty for impermissible contact with a recruit and then not being forthcoming with NCAA investigators. Rutgers is on probation through 2019 and the school has self-imposed 10 fewer off-campus recruiting days and 26 fewer official visits by recruits.
Flood was fired at the end of the 2015 season along with athletic director Julie Hermann. Flood was replaced by former Ohio State defensive coordinator Chris Ash.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
