Coach Gets Caught in Scandal

Seems like every year we hear about another scandal dealing with college athletics. This is due to all the popularity and revenue that athletics bring in on a yearly basis. Some scandals are proven in the court of law, while others might get away. Everyone knows about what transpired at Penn State and why Joe Paterno got fired. Reggie Bush in 2010 was stripped of his Heisman trophy after a four-year investigation found him guilty of receiving improper benefits while attending the University of Sothern California. USC had to suffer for Reggie’s improper receiving of improper benefits and lost scholarships and the ability to appear in a Bowl game in the 2010-2011 seasons. Cam Newton on the other hand was involved in a scandal of his own when news was leaked that his father received a large sum of money for his son (Cam) to play at Auburn University, but the authorities could not find him guilty so the investigation is on going. The reason schools don’t allow these types of negative events is because schools want to have a reputation of doing things the wright way. Schools want possible incoming students of the future to want to go to an institution with a great tradition and reputation. In this paper I will be discussing why coaches get fired and specifically the recent firing of the University of Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino.

On Sunday April 1, 2012 coach Bobby Petrino a husband and father of four, was in a motorcycle accident. State police spokesman Bill Sadler said the crash happened on Arkansas Highway 16, a two-lane road, about 20 miles from Fayetteville. It wouldn’t be such a big deal but he wasn’t riding alone when he got into the accident. He was riding with a 25-year-old female, Jessica Dorrell.

Dorrell was a former Razorback volleyball player. She actually was the one who flagged down a motorist to get assistance for the injured Petrino. But when Petrino had a press conference that following Tuesday about the accident. He makes no mention of anyone riding with him. When asked if he was with anyone at the crash site he replied, “When I came out of the ditch, there was a lady that had flagged down the car, and the guy that was in the passenger seat says get in well just take you to the hospital.”Petrino said it was sun and wind that caused him to loose control of the motorcycle. The state police report said the passing motorist that picked up Petrino and Dorrell were making their way to the hospital when Dorrell did not go to the hospital but departed to her private vehicle. Petrino tried to cover up the fact that he had a passenger by lying to investigators so that the public and his family especially his wife did not find out that he was having affair with a much younger woman.

Coach Petrino met with his boss the Athletic director Jeff Long and discussed the timeline of the relationship with Jessica Dorrell. The notes of the detailed 25 page handwritten journal that Jeff Long kept was released as a part of a Freedom of Information Act request by the Associated Press. Petrino said that in October he and Ms. Dorrell kissed. In Longs notes its indicated that the two decided they should just stay friends, sometime in early February after exchanging about 4,300 text messages and nearly 300 phone calls, according to business cellphone records. Dorrell was hired in March and was named the student-athlete coordinator for the football team, were she was responsible for organizing the recruiting process for the football team, and went straight to work directly for Petrino. This is what Petrino said when he recommended Dorrell, “Jessica Dorrell will be a great addition to our football program. As a former student-athlete she has the enthusiasm for the Razorbacks and is familiar with what the University of Arkansas can offer. She is extremely organized and has professional approach, which should translate well into our program and recruiting as we continue to place an emphasis on this area.” This statement is showing how dishonest Petrino is, and how he tried to cover up him giving her an unfair advantage in being hired for that position.

Athletic director Jeff Long gave reasons why termination was the only decision that could have been made because Petrino “knowingly mislead” Arkansas official about the nature of Jessica Dorrell’s involvement in the motorcycle accident in March. Also coach Petrino is guilty of hiring her over 158 other applications for a job on his football staff without disclosing his relationship with her. This act of hiring her with that basis of a romantic relationship was a violation of the universities policy, giving her an “unfair and undisclosed advantage.” Petrino’s employment agreement with the University allows the University’s athletic director, to suspend or fire the coach for conduct that “negatively or adversely affected the reputation of the University of Arkansas’s athletic programs.

Petrino could be charged with violating Federal hiring laws, non-discrimination laws, and potentially misuse of public funds. Petrino tried to side step Arkansas guidelines to quickly hire his mistress. Documents showed that Petrino sought a waiver to circumvent a university affirmative action policy requiring that the job be posted for at least 30 days before interviews could commence. Dorrells first interview was scheduled even before the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Compliance granted the waiver. The human resource manager of Arkansas athletic department emailed the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity and compliance to ask that the hiring process be expedited at coach Petrino’s request. The Equal Opportunity office sent an email back saying, “we could potentially make a recruiting error with the NCAA rules and regulations.” That same day the approval was granted for the interview at 10:40am but her interview however was already scheduled for 9:30 that same morning. The AD said that coach Petrino’s relationship with Dorrell gave her an unfair and undisclosed advantage for the position on the football staff. Coach Petrino himself participated in the review and selection process without disclosing his relationship with her, and that constitutes conflict of interest under the university policy. He was discriminatory in denying employment opportunities to a person because of his relationship with Dorrell. Under Title VII it is illegal to discriminate in any aspect of hiring and firing, compensation, promotion, job advertisements and recruitment.

I am going to relate this case of Booby Petrino to the firing of legendary coach Joe Paterno at Penn State. These cases are similar because there was unfair treatment in both cases and an attempt to cover up the wrong doings. In the Penn State case the issue is that Joe Paterno, head football coach was approached with the information that his assistant coach and friend had been caught sexually violating a young boy in the showers. Joe was guilty because he failed to report that information to the authorities. Joe did notify Curley and Schultz who were the president and athletic director, but they did not notify the police. I believe Joe PA did not report Sandusky because they had a relationship as long time maybe best friends. They coached together everyday for years and basically built Penn State football. Sandusky was a big part of their success and if they were not as close I think Joe would have reported him to the police. As this relates the Petrino case if she was not in that relationship with the head coach she would have not gotten the job. Joe PA basically was at the top of the rankings with the football team and that kind of actions was going on under his watch and reign. Basically when a scandal hits a program, the first person to pay is the person at the top so he had to be fired, so the Penn State program can be rid of any thought of child sexual abuse. The Reputation of the school and football program was under fire with the scandal of child abuse and that needed to change so the school decided to fire the head of that program so that they have no affiliation with that negative spotlight that was casted on the program by the illegal action. That’s why Joe Paterno as well Booby Petrino was fired because they are the face of the program and they were affiliated with scandals.

My position on this subject is that Coach Petrino was guilty and deserved to have his contract terminated. He lied to investigators and his boss the AD, when asked if he was alone in the motorcycle accident. He tried to keep information from the public. Petrino did not follow hiring policies and discriminated against more qualified potential employees to hire someone who less qualified that he had an unprofessional romantic relationship with. He gave her an unfair advantage in the hiring process by letting her interview before the 30-day postingrequirement information of the opening opportunity for employment.

Public Policy considerations were that on a most basic level coach Petrino was dishonest and given his reputation from his past he did not have much room for failure. He has a reputation of being dishonest. He left the Atlanta Falcons early to go to Arkansas. The AD said this in a statement “our expectations of character and integrity in our employees can be no less than what we expect of our students, no individual is bigger than the team, the Razorback football program of the university Of Arkansas.” From the stand point of the reputation of the university the college wants to have a positive reputation and coach Petrino just was not that. I think the Razorbacks would loose out on enrollment by students and football players because nobody wants to go to an establishment associated with breaking the law. When mothers and fathers send their kids away to college they want to rest assured knowing that their child is going to a respectable institution were that child will be influenced by positive role models and coach Petrino was just a case of a good coach with bad character.

I feel that this firing of coach Petrino will effect the day-to-day operations in a huge way. Obviously he was the leader of the whole football team and did things his way. In a football team setting there is a schedule and ways of doing things on a daily basis from a training standpoint. When he is fired the new coach will have his way of how practice and training should go. I feel if they kept him as the head coach his players would not respect him as much and they would be more likely to break rules because hey lets face it, followers do what the leaders do. So if he is let go and a new coach can come in and implement the thought of doing the right thing when no-one is watching will only better prepare those young men to do the right thing when college and football Is done.

As a head coach that is your biggest most important factor of being in that position, is being a positive role model and mentoring these young minds when their thoughts could be the most influenced. Especially when these kids are far away from home and their natural parents they need positive role models who do the right thing, and don’t cut corners. So for these players they obviously go top their coaches, coaches are natural father figures. As a youth if you can trust what your father is telling you then life can be difficult and hard to understand. I know that if Arkansas got the right coach their who can influence young men to do the right things all the time, it’s a way more valuable life lesson than knowing how to win football games. Maybe if coach Petrino had better mentors and role models when he was growing up he maybe wouldn’t have to deal with this family breaking scandal.

In conclusion Bobby Petrino is a classic case of good coach, bad guy. His lack of morals and loyalty lead him to loose what most would call a dream job. He was cheating on his wife with a female that could be his daughter. He broke hiring policies to get her on the staff, while discriminating against more qualified potential employees. His past of lies finally caught up with him in the worst way. Petrino was dishonest with his superiors and his players that he was supposed to a mentor for. Football is such an emotional sport and you gain so much from the wisdom of your coaches not only as a football player but a man. I am glad that the University of Arkansas got rid of him; it sends a message to the nation that their institution doesn’t associate itself with those types of behaviors. Just like Joe Paterno and Penn State, he needed to be fired because if the school kept him they would be saying its ok to behave that way. For Petrino at least he has accepted responsibility for his actions and I believe one day if he truly does things the “right way” and is loyal to his commitments he should be able to coach the great game of football and mentor young men.

References:

Coach Bobby Petrino: University of Arkansas

Colten Quinabo

HHP 495

Research Paper

Coach Schmidt