Penalties were handed down to the Oregon football program Wednesday after the NCAA Committee on Infractions found that the Ducks committed "major" recruiting violations. The violations were so major, Oregon lost a single scholarship over the next two years, but the Committee did not impose a bowl ban.
Oregon is charged with "failure to monitor" due to illegal contact with recruiting service provider Will Lyles, who scoped the big talent out of Texas (so THAT explains the egg on Mack Brown's face these last couple of years).
The NCAA limited the football program to 37 official visits through the 2015-16 academic year, and limited it to 36 fall and 144 spring evaluation days through 2015-16, according to reports.
Meanwhile, Chip Kelly is in his first season coaching the Eagles with no worries at all. Kelly received an 18-month show-cause order, which requires any school wishing to hire him to appear before the Infractions Committee to determine whether there should be penalty for doing it.
Not that it will be an issue, since Kelly will more than likely be in his second season coaching the Eagles when that order is finished. It's almost like putting a restraining order on the one who ended the relationship in the first place.
Ultimately, all of this is inconsequential. Oregon is still going to stack chips and "accountability" is just the spin in this.
Here's Kelly's statement, via USA Today:
"Now that the NCAA has concluded their investigation and penalized the University of Oregon and its football program, I want to apologize to the University of Oregon, all of its current and former players and their fans. I accept my share of responsibility for the actions that led to the penalties.
"As I have I stated before, the NCAA investigation and subsequent ruling had no impact on my decision to leave Oregon for Philadelphia. I have also maintained throughout that I had every intention to cooperate with the NCAA's investigation, which I did.
"I do expect the University of Oregon and its football program to continue to thrive at a high level. They are a talented and resilient group of coaches and players and I'm sure they will attempt to put today's news behind them very quickly and move forward as they prepare for the 2013 season."
