Miami Hurricanes Football Scandal: SMU Version 2.0

It doesn't take astounding intelligence to understand that America is a country obsessed with extracurricular activity.

In every realm of sports, a win or loss can no longer suffice.

Controversy is stirred up before the game, during the game, and will undoubtedly follow the game. We have become dependent on media outlets to provide us with something beyond the fun of sport.

What coach said this? Why did this player get benched? Did this junior in high school commit to our school? If not, screw him.

Across the nation, we have fall semesters starting at 2,618 different colleges and universities. Yet, the only news topic that has been covered regarding education is that of the University of Miami, and it doesn’t even revolve around an educational base but rather athletics and football recruiting violations reported by Yahoo! Sports.

Miami is located in Coral Gables, a beautiful area in south Florida, and the university is a very highly accredited institution.

Both of these facts drown when sports are brought into the mix.

We now have another case of leverage against a university because someone is unhappy.

If you can recall, SMU had a similar scandal in the '80s that was kind of a big deal. Sean Stopperich was not content with his inability to still play at the top level, which resulted in his revealing the skeletons in SMU's closet to the NCAA.

SMU, much like "The U," is an incredible institution to attend.

It lies in the heart of Dallas and has arguably one of the richer educational reputations, nationwide.

Yet when most people, especially sports fans, hear SMU, we think "death penalty." No more football.

Do not be surprised to have similar thoughts enter your head in the near future regarding the University of Miami.

It was 25 years ago that SMU was reprimanded, and they're still feeling the remnants of that incident.

If a school is given the death penalty in today’s age, they will never recover; there is too much outlying transparency.

Players can figure out where their peers will attend through recruiting websites, the benefits they could receive there, and follow suit.

Recruiting is digital. Tweets, Facebook, Skype—it no longer takes a face-to-face meeting to build a relationship.

If given the death penalty, Miami will fall out of the ACC, dominoes style. FSU will likely then join the SEC, and the ACC could dissolve.

Let it be known that if Miami receives this penalty, even more so if their men’s basketball program is found guilty as well, their sports program‘s chance for recovery is faint.

In this case, we have Nevin Shapiro, a booster who, according to the Yahoo! Sports report, over a 10-year span between 2001-10, gave nearly $2 million in favors to players in the Miami program.

Annually, Miami generates about $47 million from their football program, all of which is “re-invested” into the university.

With this much revenue coming in, they still felt the need to allow Shapiro to enter the ranks of their program. I am sure they thought he would never amount to anything more than an obsessed fan.

If only they could re-evaluate now.

SMU had boosters too, the differences being that they weren’t running through the tunnel, partying with the players, or blatantly sending hookers to players’ rooms.

SMU broke it down to a science with one rule: Keep your mouth shut.

The state's governor, Bill Clements, was the leader of the pack, if that helps you understand how quiet they kept it.

Sherwood Blount, arguably the largest contributor, has held out of giving information even to this day. Eric Dickerson, Craig James, Albert Reese—all players during the scandal—have never revealed anything.

There is a code to abide by, and nobody likes a snitch.

SMU has the unlucky privilege of being located in the heart of Dallas, which was booming during the '80s. It became Mecca for business and financial dreams.

One of these booming businesses was media coverage. Everyone wanted to break the next big story.

The media outlets couldn’t quite cover the territory to College Station, Austin, or Lubbock. They didn’t have to.

They could ride their bikes down the road to SMU.

The SMU campus became a feeding ground. Not only were they local, they were good—real good. They arguably had one of the quickest turnarounds of any program in college football, ever.

From no place on the map to the star of the Lone Star State. With this transition, heads began to turn.

When players begin to give testimonials, the hourglass is flipped.

Such was the case with SMU. It took one player to spill the beans. By no means did Stopperich do this alone, it was a collective effort, but player testimonies dig a deep wound.

Miami has already had four former players admit that benefits were handed out like tootsie rolls.

What really hurts the case for Miami, is the 30 for 30: The U that aired on ESPN a couple of years back.

Luther Campbell, most known for his rapping in the '80s rather than his boostering of the program, could not have been more obvious in his statements about giving money to players.

He essentially laughed in the face of the NCAA.

“You mean when Michael Irvin wanted some money for a new suit? Did I give it to him? Nahhh (laughing),” said Campbell during an interview for the 30 for 30 special.

There has to be more discretion in matters like this. Miami’s damage control was, and still is, horrible. ADs, other boosters, and coaches have to be diligent in their efforts to keep any allegations from leaking. Miami has coaches involved in the mix, too, much like SMU.

What this entire matter boils down to is the NCAA figuring out the system for players to have some form of stipend.

As difficult as it may be, the panel for the NCAA has to figure out something. This is going on everywhere in college sports, predominantly college football. Now Central Florida is under investigation as well. It is going to be a regional expansion from here.

Don’t be surprised to see other other local programs to enter the mix either, Jimbo Fisher. FSU just signed the top QB prospect in the nation. Where is he from? Alabama. You’re telling me that Jimbo Fisher came into Auburn, LSU and Alabama territory and signed the top QB?

If he did it honestly, I commend him. However, the notion of honesty is puzzling in itself, much like SMU's sudden rise to winning ways in the '80s.

Time will tell.

One thing I can promise you is that the heat is on.

Gainesville, Athens, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Baton Rouge, Tallahassee—keep your eyes out for the black suits and sunglasses. Knoxville and Chapel Hill, both of which are still awaiting their fates, were the most recent to fall fold to investigators.

College football is competitive. Recruiting is even worse.

These high school players now have liaisons managing their futures, similar to agents. I get it if you're a player: money talks. But be old-school about the approach.

Let the money talk, but advise it to whisper.