Dennis Thomas, Chairman of NCAA Division I Infractions Committee, Steps Down

After writing an article yesterday about how the NCAA needed to put teeth into the rules, Dennis Thomas, Chairman of NCAA Division I Infractions Committee, announced he is stepping down. Right on!

Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky will replace him temporarily. Let’s hope he has the teeth to make it through the swamp of infractions on his new desk. Thomas was not only the infractions chairman, but commissioner of Conference USA.  

What is needed now is for his replacement to come in and clean up football and do the job Mr. Thomas should have. However, there is a potential conflict of interest that will prevent commissioner Banowsky from doing any better. 

The teams being investigated could retaliate against Conference USA by not playing any of the teams in C-USA. Talk about making a man popular.

The economic impact could be tremendous, as many teams in the smaller conferences look forward to large paydays by traveling to and getting beaten up by the big-conference teams.  

Take those paydays away in retaliation for enforcement, and you are affecting the financial stability of every team in your league.  

One might think that with a new infractions chairman, the programs in trouble would now sweat a little. But the past tells us too much about the future. Things won’t change.

Banowsky will be in the same position as Thomas was. No commissioner seeks to disrupt the financial stability of his entire conference willingly. 

What’s the answer? An independent counsel, who is not afraid of retribution by the schools or conferences, beginning an investigation.  

Ken Starr, where are you? 

The NCAA needs a Ken Starr to investigate Miami University and Donna Shalala, as well as all of the other schools. They need someone who can stand up to them and give him a definition of “is” clearly and concisely and account for their actions like big boys.

And he needs to mete out their medicine in big spoonfuls. Let the chips fall where they may. Let truth win out. 

The new sheriff needs to come to town and clean house, and only an independent counsel like Ken Starr can do it. No one involved in conference leadership or administration can be expected to wear two hats, be independent, and be unaffected by these crucial decisions.  

It did not hurt college football to give SMU the death penalty and it won’t hurt Miami, or any other team. The problem with the death penalty wasn’t that SMU got it, it’s that some teams should have gotten it and didn’t.

SMU was the victim of unfair selective enforcement that allowed others to ignore the rules. The current spate of infractions is testimony to that. 

The interim commissioner will have his work cut out for him until a new permanent person is found to step into those treacherous shoes. Multiple infractions, multiple teams, multiple conferences. He will have a monumental choice from the beginning.

Either put the hammer down and give everyone in this generation some new examples, or wimp out and follow the mistakes of the past. 

Good luck to whoever gets the job, you are going to need it. But for us, might we help that person now by emailing the NCAA, and even congressmen and senators who are looking at these problems and asking for an independent voice.

By using our collective voice we could demand a change now that would result in genuine compliance with the rules for years to come. 

We the fans may do more to help clean up the rules violations than the investigators by demanding, lobbying, and supporting an independent voice to be the new infractions committee chairman.

We may also want to support his effort to replace everyone on that committee with an independent voice of academics, sports figures, and at-large fans, who would help him accomplish that task. 

Is this too much to ask? Much like a grand jury, the newly independent committee could respond to the independent investigator and aid him just like a grand jury does the prosecution in any case brought before them.

If grand juries decide there is insufficient evidence, they can quash prosecution instantly. The committee, composed of unbiased members, could do the same for an independent counsel investigating the various schools and their infractions. 

The recent allegations of welfare fraud against Fresno State athletes over a period of years will place yet another team potentially in the “death penalty” category as they have had numerous infractions in the past.

Whoever becomes the new infractions commissioner, they could be the one to hand out not only one, but several death penalties for such grievous infractions of the law, and NCAA rules.

My hat is off to whoever is involved. It won’t be easy, as history has shown us.

For more on this topic see: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/842378-ncaa-needs-to-put-teeth-in-rules-with-stated-penalties-that-arent-optional