Photo Of Florida Gators Recruiting Violations
by Bud Elliott on Jul 13, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
in FSU Football
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PrintYesterday, after conducting a freedom of information request, the Orlando Sentinel revealed that the Florida Gators football program had committed recruiting violations:
The Sentinel requested all major and secondary violations committed by the UF football team from June 1, 2009, to June 15, 2010.
Facebook walls are considered open forums and, therefore, against NCAA rules. Coaches can send direct messages through Facebook because it's similar to an e-mail.
Florida's case involved a whistle-blowing school that reported a Gators assistant posting comments on the Facebook walls of two recruits on Aug. 5. Florida then self-reported an assistant's Facebook wall posting to a recruit on Aug. 7, a separate violation. Facebook walls are considered open forums and, therefore, against NCAA rules.
The names of the assistant coaches or the opposing school were not revealed in Florida's records. For each offense, the coach was reminded of the interpretation and prohibited from written recruiting communication for a two-week period.
But did Florida report all of the violations? Back in June, an astute reader snapped screen shots of Florida coach Billy Gonzales committing the same type of violation described in the Sentinel's report. At the time, however, this reader didn't know Gonzales' activities were a violation, instead capturing the image because he thought it odd for a college coach to be on the facebook page of a recruit. We don't know if this specific instance is one of the violations reported by UF, but it is certainly a violation and occurred within the "June 1-15" time frame covered by the Sentinel's request. In this picture, you can see coach Gonzales openly recruiting Cody Riggs, who eventually signed with UF. He says "so does (sic) Florida Gators".
The date of the violation is June 9th. This very well could be the smoking gun (or is this the smoking cap gun since this seems relatively minor?) If it's not, however, then UF has to 'fess up to another violation, however minor.
The only question left is determining what rival school turned UF in to the NCAA? Any rival had the opportunity with the wildly popular '09 Gonzales Summer Facebook Tour in full swing.
*We have redacted the names of those not involved with the violation to protect their identities.
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maybe it's just me....
but his name isn’t even spelled right on his facebook account (as compared to how TN has it…)
Hmmm?
http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2009/12/lsu_football_hires_florida_ass.html
54 days till Samford. 09.04.10.
link name fail
FSU Defense 2010: Taking back 1st down.
by ricobert1 on Jul 13, 2010 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
bwhahaha
Jody Allen got another good job?
Not an alcoholic, just an FSU grad.
by onebarrelrum on Jul 13, 2010 11:13 AM EDT up reply actions
As much as I'd love it, I don't see this going very far.
(Please tell me I’m wrong, though… that’d be a great start to the season.)
I fear that there are Noles doing that kind of crap too, not the coaches, but some boosters or overzealous fans. I also think that this is a problem nationwide and there’s not an easy way to regulate it as communication becomes more open and easy to access in many different formats.
"Baseball is like church. Many attend but few understand." - Wes Westrum, Mets Manager
So does the Gators?!
Do they have to self-report to the grammar police too?
Time to lay the smack down FrankD(rebin)
"I got a PBS mind in an MTV world"...Jimmy Buffett
by The Ryno and I Know on Jul 13, 2010 9:17 AM EDT up reply actions
afaik, there's no regulation of how general students and other fans communicate to potential recruits
The sentinel blog also said that an FB message from the coach would have been fine but not the wall post.
I was under the impression fans/boosters/students were considered representatives of the university,
and as such, contacting them and recruiting them to a school on myspace or facebook was a minor violation.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
I think the delineation comes at the amount of money the university gets from you and how it gets it. I think it goes like this, with obvious exceptions if you know a recruit by normal means (from family, a neighborhood, if you go to the same school, etc.):
If you donate money in any capacity, you can’t talk to unsigned recruits. If you have season tickets, you can’t talk to unsigned recruits. If you just buy a ticket to a game here and there and/or merchandise at stores, then you can talk to unsigned recruits.
It’s really hard to enforce, but the NCAA’s never been shy about making rules that are tough to enforce. For my Team Speed Kills stuff, I will never talk to unsigned recruits. My parents have UF season tickets that I sometimes use, and even though I don’t own the ticket block officially (my dad does), I’m not 100% sure that the NCAA wouldn’t consider me a booster or some such nonsense. I don’t think it’d be a violation, but I’d rather not run the risk.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
I would hope the "aggressiveness" of the "recruiting" would also play a role.
Some guy saying, “We want you at FSU” once and then disappearing is a lot different than the Facebook stalker types, regardless of the amount of their financial contributions.
There’s definitely a lot of gray area.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
Holy cow
Fans and students leaving facebook messages would be a “minor violation”? Think about the implications there and how impossible to enforce it would be. There are thousands of these messages posted daily on facebook and myspace pages. Anyone who posts one is considered a fan of a respective school or they wouldn’t care where the high school player goes. Maybe I’ll go pose as a UF fan and rack up some more minor violations for them….
If Herban Liar thought Jeremy Fowler was a "bad guy" previously, now Herban Crier will really be pissed off at Fowler for reporting this.
Urban Meyer Confronts A Reporter
>-----:----:------>Spearing 'em and Scalping 'em like it's 1999
I'm not so sure this Jimbo fella is the right man for the job.
Maybe Fowler
Is still a bit upset about that. Guy was a huge UF homer. Maybe after some tip top Urban Meyer treatment, Fowler is out to get a little even? Who knows. Maybe he’ll uncover a huge scandal ie: cheerleaders, coke, secret apartments, etc.
Not an alcoholic, just an FSU grad.
by onebarrelrum on Jul 13, 2010 10:10 AM EDT up reply actions
Not likely
Any beat reporter for a public institution who is worth his salary should be inquiring about violations via FOIA requests. If the media never asks, then an important part of the accountability process is lost.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
Not calling you out
But I find it comical that Gator fans think recruiting violations are no big deal unless it is Lane Kiffin or someone else in the SEC committing them
Wants to live in a world where Batting Average goes the way of the Dodo!
True
But the aberration was believing Kiffin’s were something to get worked up about, not believing that these are no big deal. No one’s secondary violations are a big deal because they’re secondary and get piddling little punishments like “you can’t talk to a recruit for two weeks.”
I think SEC folks were caught off guard that something other than complete boredom was happening in Knoxville. He got everyone in the conference a bit overexcited.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
I agree with that
But man…he talked to him like he was an annoying peasant. Question is if there are more violations what kind of tone will Fowler take when writing about them. Will he be nice, harsh, embellish how bad it is? I’m going to say in reality, status quo will be preserved.
Not an alcoholic, just an FSU grad.
by onebarrelrum on Jul 13, 2010 11:17 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, I really don't see anything coming of this.
Seems we’ve heard of much worse from the Gators only to see it swept under the rug. This sounds like nothing to me.
I just can't believe the punishment is a two week written recruiting ban.
was it self imposed? Doesnt seem like a huge deterrent unless half your staff got caught doing this. And in some cases, the contact the coach made may outweigh the slap on the wrist.
by Mr. Tito Carlos on Jul 13, 2010 10:01 AM EDT reply actions
The wording is vague
Did the whistle-blowing/self reporting happen on August 5 and 7, or were those the dates of the Facebook postings themselves? The way it’s written, either one could be the case. If it’s the former, then more is not needed. If it’s the latter, then yes, Florida has more ’fessing up to do.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
Agreed. Poor wording by the Sentinel
Were the Gators turned in on that date? Or did they post on that date. I couldn’t tell.
Ponder lacks arm strength? Think again.
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by Bud Elliott on Jul 13, 2010 10:29 AM EDT up reply actions
You even blacked out the important part of the web address.
Nice catch, Bud.
54 days till Samford. 09.04.10.
Haha yes. Didn't want people sending that reader messages.
Ponder lacks arm strength? Think again.
Tomahawk Nation: Nole-Holds-Barred Analysis of FSU Sports!
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by Bud Elliott on Jul 13, 2010 10:54 AM EDT up reply actions
The problem with this kind of violation
Is it’s tough to prove that this is the actual coach posting the message on the message board
Nothing at all stops me from creating a fb account, calling myself Urben Mayer and putting up pictures of the real UM and ugly blue and orange paraphernalia. And then friending possible recruits. And then posting: “Come to UF, all the girls here luv football studs”
Perhaps
But other coaches are likely to know which ones are legit, and the school itself is sure going to know which is legit. In fact, I’d bet that recruiters probably go out of their way to let their targets know which is their real profile so there’s no confusion in case the opposite of what you describe (someone makes a fake profile and antagonizes a recruit with it) happens.
I’d also bet that the schools are fairly vigilant about getting fake profiles squashed. Pretending to be someone else in a non-satirical way violates the Facebook terms of service and is subject to the big blue ban hammer.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
Haven't seen you before; Welcome to TN!
Appreciate your thought-out comments.
FSU Defense 2010: Taking back 1st down.
Thanks
I pop in every now and then. I don’t have time to comment too often, but this blog is one of my must-reads beyond my normal SEC beat. The analysis pieces in particular are great.
Team Speed Kills
SBNation's SEC Blog
Photo of Gator recruiting violations
Are you guys pathetic, or what? Is that it? Is that your best shot? Somebody talking to a recruit on Facebook (which is legal a la the NCAA), but then posting on their wall (which is not legal according to the NCAA). Talk about B.S., stupid, nit-picky regulations. Who really cares? What conceivable competitive advantage does anybody get from posting on a Facebook wall? Really, you think he committed because of that?
Does this rise to the same level of academic fraud on correspondence classes? Get real.
Somebody's jorts are in a wad this afternoon
>>---l>
by DKfromVA on Jul 13, 2010 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions 9 recs
This one's worth lighting up green.
>-----:----:------>Spearing 'em and Scalping 'em like it's 1999
I'm not so sure this Jimbo fella is the right man for the job.
Have you read the comments?
There are exactly ZERO people on here who think this is a big deal or isolated to UF.
I'll take the "or what?" for $500, please.
MiNDSET? SWAG-ER-ISM!!!
---------------------------------------------------------
"Trick is right."
"Wherever you are, Trick, you are wise, indeed."
Thanks for joining TN for life and we look forward to your continued brilliant comments.
Is that your best shot?
Taking shots seems to be more of your players area of expertise. As in taking shots at occupied apartment buildings, taking shots in road rage incidents, taking shots in a parking garage at a Alachua county versus Pasco county gang fight, ………
>-----:----:------>Spearing 'em and Scalping 'em like it's 1999
I'm not so sure this Jimbo fella is the right man for the job.
Do the gaytors really take that many actual shots?
I thought they mostly did things like eye-gouging
Nice.....
Always up for a little Gaytor gouging…… :-) Do wish they would find something really interesting on Meyer….he has been very successful, but holy cow… to think that I thought Spurrier was arrogant!
by Mellocello63 on Jul 13, 2010 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Not to mention the shots taken in the week leading up to the SEC Championship game
Shot a Gator in Jean Shorts just to watch him die.
4 recruiting violations within a year doesn't look good.
Time for the NCAA to clean up Florida like they did USC.
GO NOLES!!! SCALP EM!
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