Show-cause penalty

In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a show-cause penalty is an order saying that for a set period of time, any NCAA penalties imposed on a coach involved in major rules violations at a university's athletic program will remain in force if he is hired by any other NCAA member institution. Both the school and coach are required to send letters to the NCAA agreeing to abide by any restrictions imposed, and report back to the NCAA every 6 months until the end of employment or the show-cause, whichever comes first. If the school wishes to avoid the NCAA restrictions imposed on that individual, it must appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions and "show cause" as to why it should not be penalized for hiring him.^[1] The penalty is intended to follow a coach for violations that he had a role in committing. It is the most severe penalty that can be handed down to a coach.

Contrary to popular belief, an NCAA member school is allowed to hire a coach with a show-cause order outstanding. In practice, however, the show-cause restrictions make it prohibitively difficult for a coach with a show-cause order to get another collegiate job. As mentioned above, any school that hires a coach with a show-cause order in effect can be penalized merely for doing so. Additionally, that school can face severe penalties if a coach commits another violation during the length of the penalty.^[2] Consequently, most schools will not even consider hiring a coach with a show-cause penalty in effect. For this reason, a show-cause penalty usually has the effect of blackballing a coach from the collegiate ranks for the duration of the penalty. Many coaches who are given such a penalty never coach again, even after the expiration of the penalty.

Notable show-cause penalties

Men's Basketball

• Bob Wade – former head coach for the Maryland Terrapins, who provided a loan to a recruit and free clothes to his players; he also lied to the NCAA and held meetings with his staff where they made plans to lie. For this, he was hit with a five-year show-cause penalty, which expired in 1995. Wade hasn't returned to the coaching ranks since.
• Todd Bozeman – Former head coach for the California Golden Bears, who had paid for a player's parents to watch their son play and lied about it to school and NCAA officials. He was forced to resign in 1996 and was handed an eight-year show-cause penalty, which expired in 2004. He now coaches the Morgan State Bears; to date, he is the only Division I men's head basketball coach to have ever gotten another head coaching job after being hit with a show-cause.
• Clem Haskins – Former head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who was guilty of paying a tutor to write papers for players on the team; he also lied to the NCAA about those payments and encouraged his players to lie as well. For that he was hit with a seven-year show-cause penalty. This penalty expired in 2007, but Haskins has yet to return to collegiate coaching.
• Dave Bliss – Former head coach for the Baylor Bears and the central figure in the scandal that engulfed the program in 2003, starting with the murder of New Mexico transfer Patrick Dennehy by former Baylor player Carlton Dotson that June. In the wake of Dennehy's death, it was revealed that Bliss had paid tuition for Dennehy and another Baylor player. Bliss lied to investigators about the payments, and worse yet, encouraged players and assistant coaches to lie. Bliss went so far as to suggest that the players tell investigators and law enforcement that Dennehy had paid for his tuition by dealing drugs. One of his assistants taped these conversations and sent them to the NCAA; the tapes were later leaked to the media. Dotson's estranged wife and the mother of another former Baylor player also reported widespread abuse of marijuana and alcohol by players that neither Bliss, his staff, nor the Baylor athletic department ever addressed. Bliss was forced to resign; and in 2005 was hit with a ten-year show-cause penalty, effective until 2015. This stands as the longest show-cause penalty ever given to a head basketball coach. Two of his assistants were also given show-cause penalties of five and seven years, respectively. The assistant who taped the conversations, Abar Rouse, escaped NCAA punishment, but has been effectively blackballed by the coaching fraternity; his only coaching job since the scandal was one year as a graduate assistant at a Division II school.
• Kelvin Sampson – Former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners and the Indiana Hoosiers, who was guilty of making impermissible cell phone calls to recruits. He landed Oklahoma on probation before leaving for Indiana in 2006. When he repeated the violations at Indiana, he was forced to resign from that institution in 2008. That same year, the NCAA gave Sampson a five-year show-cause penalty, effective until 2013. Sampson has since been an assistant with two NBA teams—the Milwaukee Bucks (2008–2011) and now the Houston Rockets.

NOTE: Bliss and Sampson coached against each other in the August 27, 2011 Oklahoma Alumni Legends Game that was decided in sudden death overtime.

• Rob Senderoff – Former assistant at Indiana under Sampson who was found to have made many of the impermissible calls to recruits. He resigned in 2007, but was rehired by Kent State, where he had served as an assistant for five years before joining Sampson at IU, before the NCAA announced its findings. Senderoff was hit with a 30-month show-cause in November 2008. Kent State chose to keep him on its staff, presumably accepting any NCAA restrictions on his activities. After Geno Ford left for Bradley after the 2010–11 season, Senderoff was named as interim head coach and then permanent head coach. His show-cause expired on May 25, 2011.^[3]
• Neil McCarthy – Former basketball coach at New Mexico State, who was fired before the 1997-98 season due to concerns about his players' poor academic performance. During a deposition for a wrongful-termination suit, McCarthy admitted under oath that he'd agreed to hire a junior-college coach as an assistant if two of his players came to New Mexico State. This triggered an investigation which revealed the junior-college coach had helped the players with their coursework and exams. In 2001, the NCAA gave McCarthy a five-year show-cause order, effective until 2006. The junior-college coach, who had been hired as an assistant before being fired with the rest of McCarthy's staff, was hit with a 10-year show-cause order. As of 2010, McCarthy has not returned to coaching.
• Bruce Pearl – The former coach of the Tennessee Volunteers received a three-year show-cause penalty (expires August 23, 2014) for lying to the NCAA about an impermissible visit by a prospective recruit to Pearl's home. While this was only a minor violation, the NCAA felt Pearl's lies elevated it to a major one. If Pearl ever coaches again during this period, he will be banned from taking part in most recruiting activities. Each of his assistants received one-year show-cause orders.^[1]
• Brad Greenberg – The former head coach at Radford, who left the school at the end of the 2010–11 season, was hit with a five-year show-cause on February 24, 2012 for leading an effort to mislead NCAA investigators who were looking into major recruiting violations at Radford. He is specifically prohibited from recruiting activities during his show-cause. Three of his assistants at the time received two-year show-causes that included recruiting bans. Greenberg is now an assistant with the Venezuela national team.^[4]

Women's Basketball

• Al Barbre – The head coach for the Lamar University women's basketball team in the early 1990s. Barbre's program was the subject of an NCAA investigation shortly after a record-breaking 1990-91 season.^[5] He was found guilty of making illegal payments to players and received a five-year show-cause penalty when Lamar was placed on probation late in 1992.^[6] Barbre has not been a head coach at an NCAA institution since.

Football

• Willie Anderson – The recruiting coordinator for Oklahoma State in the late 1980s, Anderson was given a 12-year show-cause penalty when the Cowboys landed on probation in January 1989, after the NCAA ruled him guilty of making cash payments to players.^[7] Anderson had been previously implicated in major recruiting violations at Clemson when that school landed on probation earlier in the decade.^[8] After his penalty was served, Anderson did not return to college football.
• Claude Bassett – The recruiting coordinator for Kentucky under Hal Mumme, Bassett was forced to resign in 2000 for numerous NCAA violations, including giving improper gifts to prospects and writing papers for them. In 2002, the NCAA slapped him with an eight-year show-cause penalty.^[9]
• Todd McNair – The running backs coach at the University of Southern California under Pete Carroll, McNair was found guilty of providing false information to the NCAA and covering up rules violations involving All-American running back Reggie Bush in 2004 and 2005. McNair retained his position after Carroll left and was replaced by Lane Kiffin, despite NCAA allegations against him. When he received a one-year show-cause penalty in 2010, USC did not renew his contract after it expired.^[10] McNair appealed the penalty, but it was upheld in April 2011.^[11]
• Jim Tressel – The former head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Tressel was forced to resign three months before the start of the 2011 season for lying to the NCAA about student athletes receiving tattoos and cash for signed memorabilia. According to the NCAA, he had four chances to tell the truth and failed to do so. For this, he was given a five-year show-cause penalty (until December 19, 2016). If he gets another head coaching job before then, he will have to sit out the first five games of the first regular season of his return, as well as any postseason games (including conference championship games and bowl games).^[2]
• John Blake – A former head coach at Oklahoma who was most recently defensive line coach at North Carolina, Blake was forced to resign during an NCAA investigation into academic fraud and recruiting violations in the UNC program. The NCAA found that he had received personal loans from agent Gary Wichard and failed to report them to the university, and also misled investigators. On March 12, 2012, he received a three-year show-cause.^[12]

• Chip Kelly - A former head coach at Oregon who is now the head coach for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. The penalties include three lost scholarships, probation for three years, and an 18 month show-cause against former HC Chip Kelly. The NCAA also reduced Oregon's official paid visits from 56 to 37 for the next three academic years, reduced its evaluation days for each of the next three seasons and banned the program from using recruiting services during the probation period. The NCAA has been looking into Oregon's recruiting practices since questions arose over a 2010 payment of $25,000 to Willie Lyles and his Houston-based recruiting service, Complete Scouting Services. The infractions committee found that Lyles provided cash and free lodging to a prospect, and engaged in impermissible calls and off-campus contact with prospects, their families and high school coaches. It also said the football program allowed staff members to engage in recruiting activity, exceeding coaching limits.

References