Rutgers head football coach Kyle Flood has been suspended three games after a university investigation found him in violation of school rules.
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“Based on what we know now”, Barchi wrote, “it is clear to me that Coach Flood had inappropriate communications with the faculty member in violation of an established policy”.
“I believe that the discipline is severe and justified for his failure to follow policy”, university president Robert Barchi said in a statement.
The off-the-field side would’ve been a big enough problem, but with the allegations that Flood helped out with a player’s paper that needed to be submitted, along with the contacting of a faculty member, Rutgers had to levee the suspension if only to give everyone time to assess the situation.
What this case really shows is how easy it is for a professor to be intimidated into changing a grade.
The professor and the coach continued to correspond via personal email and eventually set up a time to meet in front of Princeton’s library-where Flood said he chose not to wear any Rutgers gear so as not to draw attention to himself-to hash out just how they were going to get Barnwell eligible. The report said that assistance was in line with standard student support offered on campus by student learning centers and did not constitute academic misconduct.
After the professor agreed to the assignment, Mr. Flood tried to make sure it would go off without a hitch, going so far as to edit Mr. Barnwell’s thank-you note to the professor for agreeing to the arrangement.
Right now, Flood doesn’t get that. Flood was suspended Wednesday afternoon and will not coach the next three games for the Scarlet Knights.
Look, I don’t want to put 2 and 2 together, but it sure looks like Flood wasallegedly sending an email to inquire about the academic status of a player who was being investigated by police for his alleged role in a handful of felonies. As out of order as Flood’s behavior was in that regard, however, it tends to pale when compared with the very serious charges of violent crimes that have now been brought against seven Rutgers players.
Flood’s suspension will begin this Saturday, meaning he will not be on the sideline Saturday when Rutgers visits Penn State.
Rutgers athletic director Julie Hermann released a statement on Wednesday as well.
Yesterday, President Barchi shared with me the findings of the Office of Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance review of the matter regarding Coach Flood.
The unknown lasting effects of the penalty include any damage to Flood’s reputation as he tries to secure both high school recruits and donors. Flood allegedly communicated with a professor about junior cornerback Nadir Barnwell, reportedly in danger of being ruled academically ineligible. “It’s due to our top-to-bottom program culture emphasizing the importance of academic success, and it’s why we have a robust academic support staff that is second to none”. Flood still had the meeting.
In a telephone interview with The Associated Press, Barchi said he hopes this doesn’t hurt the reputation of New Jersey’s flagship state university. “We’re talking about actions that are occurring with a single coach and a single team”.
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Flood later told an investigator that he wasn’t familiar with the no-contact policy regarding faculty and hadn’t attended the annual compliance training where the policy is outlined.
