PINEHURST, N.C. – With Georgia Tech football under NCAA probation and North Carolina under investigation, ACC commissioner John Swofford made clear Sunday he expects league members to abide by the rules.
"I don't like to see (NCAA trouble) at all," Swofford said following remarks that opened the ACC football kickoff event. "Compliance issues make me unhappier probably than anything else."
Still, Swofford affirmed Tech's leadership, despite the fact that the NCAA found the school guilty of a failure to cooperate with an investigation that resulted in four years' probation, a $100,000 fine and the vacation of the 2009 ACC title. Tech plans to appeal the NCAA's ruling.
"I think at Georgia Tech, you've got people in (president G.P.) ‘Bud' Peterson and (athletic director) Dan Radakovich who are very ethical people who are committed to doing things the right way," Swofford said.
Swofford's observation differed from that of the NCAA Committee on Infractions, which found Tech failed to cooperate or meet the obligations and conditions of NCAA membership. The NCAA concluded that Tech compromised an investigation into former football player Morgan Burnett and appeared to manipulate information involving former player Demaryius Thomas to justify not declaring him ineligible. The NCAA ruled Thomas guilty of an improper benefits violation for receiving $312 worth of clothes.
"Somewhere along the lines, things got a little out of whack (in Tech's dealings) with the NCAA," Swofford said. "I don't know exactly what that was. Some of it may have been timing, some of it may have been [Tech's] perception of the particular situation compared to the NCAA's perception of it."
Peterson and Radakovich, as well as coach Paul Johnson, have contended that the school cooperated and acted in good faith with the NCAA's enforcement staff. Swofford was asked to reconcile the NCAA's findings of a failure to cooperate with his own judgment of Peterson and Radakovich.
"I stand by what I said," Swofford said. "My dealings with Bud and Dan have been nothing but forthright and appropriate in every way."
Swofford also addressed the NCAA penalties, specifically the $100,000 fine.
"I will say it's the biggest fine that I'm aware of that the NCAA has levied," he said, "And the fine, relative to what actually occurred in terms of the players, was big."
Swofford offered support of Peterson and Radakovich after a speech in which he spoke frankly about the ethical issues college football faces, as a rash of NCAA violations have coincided with the game's peaking popularity and prosperity.
"I just think we're at a point where things have just kind of exploded," Swofford said.
Swofford also called for the NCAA to focus on serious rules violations instead of what he called "jaywalking" offenses and to consistently apply penalties. He also recommended studying the inclusion of cost of attendance for a full athletic scholarship in order to increase the benefits given to student-athletes. Swofford would also like to look into the possibility of multi-year scholarships rather than one-year agreements.
"We've got to get it right," he said. "For those of us in leadership positions to act like everything is all right right now nationally with what we've all seen over the past year, it wouldn’t be appropriate."
