Mark Richt Paying Staffers Should be Commended, Not Punished

With Christmas just around the corner, it appears that Santa Claus has been hitting the Georgia Bulldogs for quite a while now.

Head coach Mark Richt is being accused of violating NCAA rules for paying assistant coaches out of his own pocket. It's being reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Richt has unknowingly broken NCAA rules by paying three assistant coaches totaling up to $25,000 when he believed they weren't being paid fairly.

Richt had asked former athletic director Damon Evans for raises for several of his assistants, including both former linebackers coach John Jancek and former recruiting assistant Charlie Cantor. When Evans refused to give either one a raise, Richt began writing both of them weekly or monthly checks out of his own pocket.

Former Georgia assistant and current director of player development John Eason was in danger to take a lesser salary as he was moved from the coaching staff to an administrative position. Mark Richt covered the $6,000-plus for Eason. 

Richt also provided payments to other assistants, coaches and employees that were approved by the Georgia athletic department. When former assistant Dave Johnson was let go, Georgia refused to pay his $15,000 five-year bonus.

Guess who payed it? You're right if you said Coach Richt.

Since that was approved by the athletic department, it is not a violation of NCAA rules.

You can look at this as a violation of NCAA rules, and you would be right. But should the head coach really be punished for doing something that he did out of the kindness of his heart? He wasn't trying to hurt anybody with these actions or break NCAA rules.

Richt and his wife have two checking accounts. One is used for their needs and the other is known as the "giving account."

He saw people that he works with going through a rough time as far as money is concerned. A lot of them have helped him get to where he is and be as successful as he is today. Is it really a crime to help out a friend that's in need?

We get all caught up in the sex scandals, strip clubs and players accepting benefits and begin treating every NCAA violation the same way.

I think this one should be looked over a few times before the head coach with a big heart is punished.

Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]