You may recall the duo from their blistering take on how Jeremy Foley conducted his search for Jim McElwain last fall, from Thamel’s initial column declaring Muschamp a “bold and risky” hire and from Evans’ reporting that Cam Newton faced expulsion from Florida – and immediately being charged with carrying water for Urban Meyer.
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On Tuesday in Seattle, Petersen declined to expand on that statement.
The people who knew that Sam Ukwuachu had a tendency to abuse women are still unclear. “It’s really about it”, Briles said Friday.
Sam Ukwuachu was released from Boise State after some “depression and violence”, but his coaches reportedly never knew much about his issues – or, at least, the extent of those issues. Chris Peterson, the head coach at Boise State at the time, responded, saying in a statement that he “thoroughly apprised Coach Briles of the circumstances surrounding [Ukwuachu’s] disciplinary record and dismissal”.
Neither Pease nor Choate was in Boise for Ukwuachu’s freshman season, though: Pease left for Florida in December 2011, and Choate spent 2012 at Washington State before being hired by the Gators in the spring of 2013. Although a jury sentenced him to eight years in the Texas Department of Corrections, they recommended it be probated since he had no criminal history.
Even though the sentence may be a blow, Ukwuachu is now a convicted felon, will have to register as a sex offender forever, and follow strict probation rules for the next ten years, something Mitchell said will have many ramifications on his life.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Ukwuachu “habitually abused” his girlfriend at Boise State, but this has become some kind of game of “who knew what”.
Heath also noted that he’s known Briles since Briles was a high school coach at Stephenville, Texas.
Ultimately, she said she transferred to another school in Texas to avoid the possibility of randomly running into Ukwuachu on campus.
Big 12 Conference athletic directors are unanimously backing a proposal that would prohibit schools from accepting transfers who were disciplined for violent acts at their previous schools. There was an incident where Ukwuachu was with a girl and he got agitated and put his hand through a window.
“I talked to Chris Petersen personally”, Briles said. “Lord, no. No, there’s no truth”, Briles said.
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Meanwhile, there are clear problems that need fixing and that are more obvious at this point than the amount of blame the football coach deserves.
