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 Friday, December 13, 2002
Everyone ain't doing it
By Terry Bowden
Special to BCSfootball.com
Bowden's Weekly Chat Show
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Looking back over the football season, there are two compelling stories that stick out in my mind. One is about a bunch of winners in Norman, Okla. The other is about a bunch of losers in Memphis, Tenn. One makes you feel good about college football. The other makes you sick to your stomach.
Bob Stoops became the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma two years ago. In the four years prior to his arrival, the Sooners had a record of 17-27-1. During that time, they had no winning seasons and went to no bowl games. Needless to say, Stoops didn't inherit the best athletes in the world.
|  | | Bob Stoops holds the Sears Trophy, as Oklahoma is the undisputed national champion. |
Yet, in his second season, he led Oklahoma to a perfect 13-0 record and the undisputed national championship. With only two recruiting classes under his belt, he didn't even have his own juniors and seniors out on the field. That is, except for a few junior college transfers, one of which was a little-known quarterback that no one else recruited by the name of Josh Heupel.
The point is, Oklahoma went out and won the national championship with teamwork, attitude, and commitment. They did it with superior coaching and a more imaginative style of play. And they did it with less athletes. They ultimately beat a Florida State team in the FedEx Orange Bowl with three or four times as many NFL-caliber ballplayers.
You see, there are two lines of thought in football. One is that you win by putting the best 11 football players on the field. The other is that you win by putting the 11 players on the field that play the best football. Neither answer is entirely correct. But then again, neither answer is entirely wrong. The problem arises when too much emphasis is placed on one and not enough on the other.
Which brings us to that other compelling story -- the ugly one in Memphis. It seems that several high school coaches were demanding and receiving money to place their athletes at certain colleges. One coach is alleged to have received $200,000 from a college booster in return for directing a recruit to that booster's favorite school. Two other colleges have been accused of paying the coach just to have his player visit their school. Prep school tuition of up to $20,000 has supposedly been taken care of "under the table," and one college head coach has already been fired.
As sad as all this sounds, a great deal of it is probably true. After 15 years as a head coach, I know all too well what often goes on. The disappointing truth is that about 20 percent of the teams in the country are purposely and intentionally cheating. The good news is that eight out 10 are not. Unfortunately, sorry coaches -- and they are sorry -- are giving the rest of the profession a bad name.
|  | | Hal Mumme is out of work after Kentucky was caught with numerous recruiting violations. |
What is happening is that these coaches have talked their boosters into believing that you win with players not coaching. (Pretty self-serving don't you think?) They don't call these private meetings with their boosters to remind them what Lou Holtz did at South Carolina, or what Dennis Erickson did at Oregon State, or, God forbid, what Bob Stoops did at Oklahoma. No, they hold their secret meetings with their secret handshakes and convince these good ol' boys to dish out cash to buy high school kids. Buy enough of them and you just might win a championship.
Why are so many alums buying into all this hogwash? Because they are told everyone is doing it. It can't be wrong if everyone is doing it. Well, everyone ain't doing it. In fact, most schools are not doing it. I've been in too many recruiting battles that were straight up from start to finish for this to be true. If your coach tells you otherwise, then he is a cheater and a liar and you need to throw the bum out.
The truth of the matter is that the team with the best players usually does win. Most coaches in the country are pretty dadgum good at what they do and outcoaching them isn't all that easy. The truth is that some schools, because of winning tradition, facilities, or location will almost always get the best players. The truth is, no matter how hard they try, some schools are not likely to ever win a national championship.
The answer, though, isn't cheating. It never has been and it never will be. Cheating is wrong and it hurts almost everyone involved. Once a young man knows you broke the rules to get him in school, the special relationship between player and coach has forever been compromised. Fair play, honesty and abiding by the rules become words with little meaning.
Coach and player are then required to perpetuate that lie each year when they sign their name promising not to have committed any NCAA violations. Once a young man knows the coach cheated -- and, believe me, they know -- that coach loses his ability to be a role model and father away from home. To me, this is so much worse than the embarrassment and humiliation that ultimately comes when the school is put on probation.
So, thanks Oklahoma. Thanks for proving what it takes to be a national champion. And thanks, too, for proving the cheaters wrong.
Terry Bowden is ABC's college football studio analyst and is a regular contributor to BCSfootball.com.
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Guy Morriss is named the new Kentucky head football coach.
Kentucky athletic director Larry Ivy announces coach Hal Mumme's resignation.