Georgia Tech co-offensive line coach Todd Spencer's texting cost him his job.
The school, sensitive to NCAA compliance after being placed on probation over the summer, accepted Spencer's resignation for violating rules forbidding text messages to prospects and their parents or guardians.
"I find it inexplicable that an employee would violate these rules with regard to text messaging after our ongoing focus to educate our personnel on NCAA rules and regulations," athletic director Dan Radakovich said in a statement. "Actions of this type are not acceptable in our programs and will not be tolerated."
For Spencer, it was the second time he had been caught running afoul of NCAA recruiting rules.. Spencer was found to have made 14 impermissible phone calls to recruits last spring and was suspended for the first game of the 2011 season.
"There is no need to put our program in further jeopardy," Tech coach Paul Johnson wrote in a Jan. 20 letter to Radakovich recommending Spencer's termination. The letter was obtained through a Georgia Open Records Act request by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
NCAA rules on electronic communication permit only email and faxes. Tech's phone monitoring software caught Spencer's texting on Jan. 12. He was placed on administrative leave the following day and the school began an investigation. He resigned Jan. 27.
Spencer had come to Tech with Johnson from the U.S. Naval Academy. His work helped the Jackets finish in the top four in the country in rushing offense in each of the past four seasons.
One of the prospects that Spencer texted with was Lanier County defensive end and former Tech commit Junior Gnonkonde, who had his scholarship offer pulled Jan. 20. The recruitment of Gnonkonde, who Wednesday signed with North Carolina, apparently faced various obstacles, including the texting violations.
"I was bitter, but I'm not bitter anymore," said John White, Lanier County's athletic director and Gnonkonde's legal guardian. "I feel like he ended up better for it."
When the investigation is complete, the school will present findings to the NCAA and perhaps offer a self-imposed penalty, such as recruiting restrictions or rules education.
An attorney with long experience representing schools and coaches before the NCAA in infractions cases said he did not think the NCAA would come down hard on Tech in this instance, particularly because the school can show the lengths it went to monitor possible violations and its quick response. After being placed on probation and being stripped of the 2009 ACC football title last July, Tech purchased a software program that tracks every phone call made by coaches.
"Georgia Tech, they're in a very good position," Florida-based attorney Michael Buckner said.
The violations are not expected to affect Tech's appeal of NCAA findings last fall that the school failed to cooperate and failed to meet obligations of membership in the NCAA's investigation into possible impermissible benefits violations regarding two former football players. That verdict is expected soon.
Spencer's case was not the only recent texting violation. Tech wide receivers coach Buzz Preston sent two texts, deemed inadvertent, to a prospect's father in November, resulting in the school restricting itself from initiating written or phone communication with the prospect for four weeks.
Many consider the text message regulations antiquated. The ban on texting was first implemented when cell phone users typically paid per text, raising concern that recruits would be forced to bear the cost of sending and receiving texts from coaches. The ban on text messages was lifted at the Division III level at the NCAA convention in January and similar legislation has been considered by Division I schools.
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