The last accusation (and make no mistake about it, the most important) deals with Sampson lying to IU and the NCAA saying he did not know that he was on the three-way calls.
Indiana has not had a major violation in 48 years.
You can view those four bullet points however you wish, but the bottom line is that they are your garden variety slap-on-the-wrist infractions. When the coach begins lying to the University and the NCAA, however, he has entered into scary territory and he probably won't make it back.
I have had the pleasure to meet the last three Hoosier coaches (Knight, Davis, and Sampson), and I liked Sampson the most. He is a very humble and soft-spoken man. He values hard work and toughness and he insists those characteristics be absorbed by his teams.
When IU announced last fall that he and his staff violated the sanctions from his tenure at Oklahoma, I was stunned.
How could he have been so careless? I know that this is cheating, but these calls garner no advantage. These infractions are sloppy, and they give the impression that no one is in control.
The tail end of the Knight era and all of the Mike Davis tenure was mired in mediocrity not seen in the program since the 60's. When Sampson was hired in 2006, it was a head-scratcher to some, but Sampson's career numbers were incredible. He was a 20+ win per season machine.
Through recruiting and the installation of his system Sampson has returned Indiana to the elite. But at what cost? He will most likely be fired, and there is no way to guarantee that this team stays together after he's gone. Not to mention the looming actions of a grumpy NCAA.
IU Athletic Director Rick Greenspan might not survive this either.
He hired Sampson knowing that he was bringing the phone call violation baggage with him. Greenspan's dismissal could be the real tragedy, he was the one who brought in Terry Hoeppner to transform the barely-breathing IU football program.
As most know, Hoeppner didn't survive his battle with cancer, but the IU football program continued in the right direction, making a bowl game for the first time since 1993.
Indiana is faced with a tough decision: support their embattled coach, fire him immediately, or fire him after the season.
It looks like we will know the answer sooner than later. IU has scheduled a press conference for 5 PM EST. This is not good news for Sampson, there wasn't one originally scheduled.
*UPDATE*
AD Rick Greenspan's press conference is wrapping up and it appears that no decision has been made on the future of Coach Sampson.
I will say that he has left the door of firing him wide open.
Greenspan has shown the propensity to be patient in times of urgency, and that discretion is probably wise. There are a lot of decisions to be made in this situation and you can't go around firing people until this situation is properly reviewed.
He also made it clear that he couldn't fire him anyway, he only makes "recommendations" that are sent to University President McRobbie.
One note. How unbelievable would it have been if Greenspan was doing his presser and all of a sudden the lights dim, the music starts, and out walks The General himself? This would be the one (and only) case where real sports should be like wrestling.
Just a thought (to be clear, I do not think that hiring Knight would be a good idea).
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