Article on College Football Athletes with Criminal Records

[gbgreenie]

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A ... FB&h=3d652

Now Tulane University augues than their strict entrance requirements prevent this from happening. I personally think all those requirements just keep them from being competitive. I don't think how smart a student athlete is necessary determines their character. They should leave it to the coaches to get the best athletes with a focus on character not grades. Extra tutoring can help the hard to learn student athletes but you can't build character without a good foundation.

[NOLABigSteve]

Link to SI
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w ... index.html

[JTLiuzza]

From the SI article:

Before this rash of arrests, Pitt had no procedure for screening football recruits for past trouble with the law. But after Knox's arrest Pitt's athletic department implemented a new policy requiring coaches to seek more detailed background information on potential recruits.

"This evaluation is not a legal criminal background check," the school said in a statement. "Rather, it is a checklist of questions that attempts to gain greater knowledge of the behavior and citizenship of an individual prospect from a variety of people."

This is exactly the kind of thing that I have been thinking about. There has to be a list of indicators that could be compiled by behavioral professionals that would indicate a recruit's propensity to have problems with the rules or break the law. Arrested before? Discipline problem in high school? That kind of thing. A list compiled by professionals that would be both legal and ethical to investigate as part of the screening process.

That would make sense. Would it be perfect? No. But it sure would be a more effective approach to keeping troublemakers off the team than the present method of looking at SAT's which, as gbgreenie pointed out (and sader originally posted) is a poor indicator at best of a propensity to antisocial/illegal activity.

[sader24]

Let's be honest, if you recruit a guy for months or possibly years you should be able to get a good feel for whether or not the guy is a scumbag. People will slip through the cracks from time to time, but unless you have a football program that's out of control there shouldn't be many if any problems. The other thing and the most important thing is, do you have a coach who is extremely adamant about discipline and being a strong presence(sp?) in his players' lives. In other words does he care? I think 95% of it is evaluation, providing support for them while they are here, and maintaining a strong disciplinary policy. Most of the programs that have these problems have head coaches that are too far removed from the day to day lives of the kids. It's obvious now that in Florida's case Urban Meyer became burnt out and in all likelihood handed over the vast majority of all his duties to his asst. coaches, the same happened with Bowden at FSU when he got older and became very uninvolved in day to day functions.

[JTLiuzza]

Let's be honest, if you recruit a guy for months or possibly years you should be able to get a good feel for whether or not the guy is a scumbag.

I do wish you would quit beating around the bush.