Bernie Fine Fired: Dumping Assistant Coach Was Least Syracuse Could Do

The Syracuse Orange have finally severed ties with Bernie Fine now that a third party has stepped forward with allegations that the longtime assistant sexually abused him.

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"At the direction of Chancellor [Nancy] Cantor, Bernie Fine's employment with Syracuse University has been terminated, effective immediately," university Senior Vice President Kevin Quinn said in a statement.

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Honestly, it’s the least they could have done.

The fact that the school continually did the bare minimum until it looked like he would go to court and be prosecuted for his alleged crimes is something that should be criticized and investigated.

Just like how Penn State is under the gun and many top school officials were fired for the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Syracuse should be facing a ton of scrutiny for handling their own investigation into the issue in 2005 and knowing that Fine may have molested children.

The Syracuse Post-Standard and ESPN both found out that alleged victim and former ball boy, Bobby Davis, had created a recording with Fine’s wife that may prove she had knowledge of the abuse and more.

Fine’s firing happened the same day this was discovered.

The statute of limitations on Davis’ case expired years ago when he was first interested in bringing it up, but another man, Zachary Tomaselli, has come forth alleging that he was victimized by Fine.

Davis’ stepbrother, Mike Lang, also stepped forward and claimed to have been abused as well.

With all of these allegations going on, the school needed to cut ties with Fine before the media and public got wind of it. Handling it internally and with law enforcement would have been better than sweeping it under the rug.

Now Syracuse will have to face the repercussions of skeletons in their closet coming back to haunt them, and they certainly will when Fine goes to court.