1. Clearly my intent is not to dig into all the events that occurred during your final year+ as Commissioner, but you were heavily involved in conference realignment. What are your feelings overall on realignment, and what are your predictions for where it all leads?
My personal view is that institutions are better off being located in the regions where they get the majority of their students and where a majority of their alumni live and work. Disconnecting from that orientation is difficult and doesn’t provide for the type of geographic community and rivalries that are best for college sports. I think that regional 10 member conferences work well in that they give the opportunity for everyone to play each other every year in all sports, building familiarity, rivalries and long-time bonds. The pursuit of more market power and money has disrupted that type of a more intimate conference that existed for decades in most regions of the country, but perhaps there will be a retraction in 10 or 15 years.
2. Many pundits, analysts and others are pushing for reform in college athletics. Often people point to money as the underlying issue. Do you feel there is a need for reform? If so, define what you feel is the major underlying problem?
Reform has always been attempted and, in some cases, achieved, in the history of college sports. Money has been identified for nearly 100 years as a major problem. So, there is nothing new about the call for reform or the blame placed on the commercial aspect of college sports. I think it is necessary to continually explore reform and to strive to keep the quest for money in balance with the mission of higher education.
3. What is the solution or solutions?
I don’t think we will ever end up with THE solution, anymore than we will for other areas of importance in society at large. If we think we have found it, we will probably be in trouble. Constant attention to balancing the commercial aspect of intercollegiate athletics with the values of the educational experience is necessary to the evolution of college sports. I believe the commercial component has been overemphasized recently and that the pendulum will need to swing back the other way.
4. Should college athletes be paid?
No, but I do support the permissive legislation to allow up to $2000 to be added to the grant-in-aid.
5. Can you help an average college sports fan understand why the $2000 stipend hasn’t been approved?
In my opinion, it is because those who can’t afford it are concerned about the effect on their budgets and on recruiting.
6. I believe many people would agree that college basketball and college football, especially at the FBS or at least the BCS AQ level, are unique in their ability to generate revenue beyond all the other sports. Should these sports be handled, managed, or organized differently? If so, what would be the most effective method?
In many ways, they already are managed differently, with a lot more attention given to the operation and needs of those sports, since at the highest level they are paying for the experience of all the other student-athletes. As to whether they should be further organized differently, I must confess that I have ambivalence about that. The fact is that basketball and football student-athletes are under much more scrutiny and pressure than those in other sports, given the high visibility and public interest. This can argue for more consideration being provided to them. However, I suspect that would not be for football and men's basketball own long term good and could lead to an even heightened sense of celebrity - an experience that does not prepare them well for life after sports. It will take a lot of study and thought about the possible negative effects on the students in those sports before any more special treatment is afforded to them.
7. There have been a handful of high profile situations regarding student-athletes petitioning for an extra year of eligibility or to get a release from their scholarship for the purpose of transferring to another school. Publicly we usually only hear about the final decision made by the NCAA (more specifically, the committee) or institution and are left to make assumptions with little information. What insights can you provide that would help people understand how or why these decisions are made, and why aren’t we given more information?
Although I was not directly involved in these cases, I think that the privacy acts prevent institutions, conferences and the NCAA from divulging very much about the cases.
8. What’s next on the horizon for you?
I recently formed a partnership in misconduct risk management with Mike McCall and Mark Thompson. They have worked with more than 800 organizations for nearly 15 years in providing an independent, third party assessment of and training in employment practices in order to ensure and verify that organizations operate the best protection possible for students, employees and others associating with the organization. My partners have done this work for such organizations as school districts, fire districts, churches, and medical associations. We feel there is a strong need for such third party consultation in intercollegiate athletics to help protect those who may be vulnerable from misconduct of all kinds—sexual abuse, harassment, retaliation, etc. Our services will put the university in the best position possible to protect itself and provide the safest environment for all who associate with the athletics program, and it will provide the best atmosphere for detecting other types of misconduct; e.g., in areas of NCAA violations, ticket office operations, fundraising, etc.
9. What role should a conference office play in situations involving a high-profile scandal like Penn State or Miami?
Of course, I will say they need to encourage their institutions to engage our risk management firm for the services outlined above which would uncover such problmes at the outset and prevent them from exploding into some of the issues we have seen! Frankly, as to serious NCAA rules problems, I am of the opinion that the NCAA needs to handle the situation and not the conference office. The conference office primarily should be available for advice and consultation.
10. Many of our readers may not know that you spent the early part of your career in the NCAA Enforcement Department. Can you paint a picture of what it’s like to be an investigator?
I think that investigating NCAA violations is the most challenging enforcement work there is, at least as I understand how enforcement works in areas of the law. Without subpoena power to compel people to talk, and without other tools available to other agencies (such as wiretapping, paying informants, etc.), it is very difficult to prove that violations occurred. In addition, many of the actions that may be violations of NCAA rules can be viewed as altruistic when not considered in the context of recruiting; therefore, people aren’t as interested in cooperating. The job is fascinating, however, in trying to figure out the truth and in the challenge of getting people to assist.
11. Be honest, occasionally @danbeebe (Fake Dan Beebe) really does say exactly what you want to say, right? Also, please settle a bet, is it actually you?
He or she is very funny, when not too crude, but he or she doesn’t always say what I would say. I have had a few people ask if it is actually me…