Baylor fined for Recruiting Infractions by Kendal Briles

[Randman5000 4,226]

http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18325619/ncaa-concludes-two-baylor-bears-assistant-football-coaches-committed-recruiting-infractions

Quote

Baylor Bears assistant coaches Kendal Briles and Tate Wallis committed recruiting infractions by exceeding the number of allowed evaluations and having impermissible contact with a prospect, according to a decision released Wednesday by an NCAA's infractions committee panel.

The Division I infractions committee panel upheld Baylor's self-imposed penalties on the coaches, which included recruiting restrictions and game suspensions, and applied only a $5,000 fine as an additional penalty. Briles is Baylor's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, as well as the son of fired Bears coach Art Briles. Wallis coaches the receivers.

Kendal Briles, Baylor's offensive coordinator and QBs coach, was one of two assistants found to have committed recruiting infractions. Ray Carlin/USA TODAY Sports

Neither is expected to be retained by new Baylor coach Matt Rhule in 2017.

Briles and Wallis attended track meets in the spring of 2015, where they could have contact with prospects they had already evaluated twice -- the maximum allowed during the spring evaluation period. The two coaches tried to avoid having to log an evaluation by turning their backs to the event while the prospects were competing.

The NCAA's investigation centered on Baylor's recruitment of wide receiver recruits Devin Duvernay and Hezekiah Jones, a source close to the situation told ESPN's Max Olson.

Duvernay, an ESPN 300 recruit in the 2016 class, initially signed with Baylor in February but eventually enrolled at Texas in July after learning the letter of intent he signed with Baylor was never submitted to the Big 12 and thus invalid.

Jones, ESPN's No. 112 ranked recruit in the class of 2017, committed to Baylor in June 2015 but backed out of his pledge in May. He's signed a financial aid agreement to attend Texas A&M.

Baylor's compliance office had told the coaches that such a technique wouldn't count as an evaluation. During a 2014 compliance education session, the coaches "interpreted the evaluation rules among themselves to mean that evaluations involve only those prospects the staff intended to see, not all prospects they actually watched compete."

The infractions committee panel concluded that it would be impossible for schools to monitor whether coaches are actually watching prospects compete in other sports while attending such events.

"It is disappointing that the university's coaching staff was more interested in finding loopholes to exploit the rules instead of trying to follow the rules," Xavier athletic director Greg Christopher, chair of the infractions committee panel, said in a prepared statement. "The assistant coaches could have easily avoided these violations if their focus had been following the rules rather than finding ways around them."

 

Briles and Wallis will coach in Baylor's game against Boise State on Dec. 27 in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl.

"Today's announcement by the NCAA committee on infractions comes as a function of the NCAA legislated adjudication process in reconciling NCAA infractions. This isolated matter involving two assistant football coaches occurred during the spring 2015 recruiting evaluation period, and when notified of this issue in August 2015, Baylor immediately and effectively cooperated with the NCAA. We are grateful the NCAA committee on infractions accepted our original self-imposed penalties from September 2015. Baylor University accepts this outcome," Baylor athletic director Mack Rhoades said in a statement.

"Complying with NCAA regulation is a fundamental expectation of all Baylor coaches, staff, student-athletes and supporters. As President David Garland shared with the committee on infractions, we have tremendous confidence in our well-established compliance program, yet we will continue to place great emphasis on this expectation and hold those individuals accountable in circumstances where non-compliance occurs."

 

[lionheartkc 6,150]

Sounds like he would fit perfectly at FAU with Kiffin.

Side note: Doesn't "Motel 6 Cactus Bowl" sound like the worst possible consolation prize bowl game ever?

[bigbird 60,500]

This happens ALL the time. There are so many coaches that attend track meets with their backs turned. That's funny they got turned in.

[penguin149 391]

They'll leave the light on for ya

[aujeff11 6,243]

Can't believe so many Auburn fans wanted this guy so bad.... 

[keesler 5,924]

16 hours ago, bigbird said:

This happens ALL the time. There are so many coaches that attend track meets with their backs turned. That's funny they got turned in.

This.

The whole thing is just tick tacky all around, so trivial it's laughable.