HOOVER, Ala. – By the time he had completed his annual summary of world domination and interplanetary broadcast rights, SEC commissioner Mike Slive referenced Johann Gutenberg, Albert Einstein, Theodore Roosevelt, the Gordian knot, James Baldwin, Benjamin Franklin and, of course, all three Mannings. Which is fine. The media never has a problem when an Ivy Leaguer tries to impress you with how smart he is, as long as he’s also entertaining and quotable, which Slive almost always is.
“You liked it? Oh, good. That really means a lot to me. No, seriously,” Slive said later. And if he was just trying to make me feel good, whatever — hook, meet mouth.
But when Slive was on stage Tuesday for the opening of SEC media days, he didn’t merely gloat about the conference’s string of national championships, the blur of NFL draft picks and a seeming annual takeover of the Heisman race.
He also addressed the mounting problems in the NCAA. He questioned its structure and effectiveness. He pushed for stipends (again). He likened the rules manual to an unusable relic, saying the NCAA’s regulatory approach to recruiting “would be more at home in the era of Johann Gutenberg’s printing press than in our current fast-paced, technology-driven society …”
Down goes Frazier.
Slive also pointed a finger at himself, or at least his conference. He went out of his way — early in his prepared remarks to the note-taking masses — to reference “off the field incidents involving both current and former student-athletes.”
It’s one thing for a media member to bring up Aaron Hernandez (former Florida star, charged with murder) or Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M, mostly stupid college fratboy missteps) or assorted other player arrests and incidents, including: LSU running back Jeremy Hill, already on probation for a sex crime, pleading to a simple battery charge; Vanderbilt dismissing four players who are being investigated for a possible sex crime; Texas A&M suspending two players for misdemeanor assault and criminal mischief. It’s another when the conference commissioner addresses problems.
The smart leaders know how to defuse a bomb. They’re proactive. They don’t get indignant when somebody points out flaws, championships and mind-boggling revenue streams notwithstanding.
Slive had the stage Tuesday and he used it. He milked it. Good for him. He mandated change. He attacked where the SEC and college athletics in general have fallen short. We can debate all day whether enabling by Urban Meyer and Florida played a significant role in the devolution of the cretin, Hernandez. But when negative stories with former SEC stars dominate the headlines, it hurts the brand and begs for attention.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable talking about the wonderful achievements of all of our kids – and they’re extraordinary – without saying, you know, there’s a realistic piece here that’s painful,” Slive said later off stage. “But it’s part of where we are. It’s part of what’s going on.”
He said member schools “have mechanisms in place to recognize problems, policies to provide discipline … and the willingness to enforce these policies. … It’s a crushing disappointment when a young person throws away the opportunity for a promising future.”
That part about coaches being “willing to enforce” discipline — at times, it seems suspect. Regardless, the question of what role a college or conference plays is significant.
When asked how responsible a coach should be for a player’s off-the-field actions, Florida coach Will Muschamp said, “Well, you’re 100 percent responsible. It’s my job to be an extension of what’s already happened at home. You’re 100 percent responsible for the young man. Everything that happens. I can’t possibly know everything that happens every single night with our football team. You also can’t stick your head in the sand and pretend everything is OK, either.”
Slive on the responsibility of a school and a conference: “It’s a great question: It’s a multi-faceted question. Faculty senates, judicial events, students vs. student athletes, delegation of authority away from the institution. I’ve thought about. I thought about it when I was a judge. It’s a behavioral issue, as well as being a violation of something.”
Slive said he “supports” NCAA president Mark Emmert, yet added: “Intercollegiate athletics requires remarkable and innovative leadership to slash through our Gordian knot. Our challenges are complex.”
And at this very moment, Emmert is Googling “Gordian knot.”
Slive again: “As Albert Einstein once said, we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Slive could have spent the day only basking in the glory of his conference. It was refreshing that he chose not to.
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