Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced today that the attorney general’s office is proactively taking steps to prevent agent violations which may harm Ohio universities and colleges.
“Students and universities around the country are being forced to pay the price of agents who are held uncountable for their actions,” Cordray said at a press conference held this morning. “Ohio law allows the Attorney General to seek financial damages on behalf of universities and colleges who have been harmed by unscrupulous agents.” According to Cordray, the Ohio Attorney General’s office has already sent preemptive letters to sports agencies registered in Ohio putting them “on notice” of the AG’s intention to pursue agents who bring harm to Ohio colleges and universities.
“If you reap funds in Ohio, we will go after you and we want you to stand forewarned,” Cordray said.
In making the announcement, Cordray repeatedly referred to the NCAA violations involving Reggie Bush at USC stating that it is “disturbing” that while USC has suffered the loss of scholarships, post season play and Reggie Bush has lost his Heisman trophy, their has been no punishment to the agent involved. Cordray went on to point out that while the NCAA can bring violations against universities affected by agents who break the rules, there are no repercussions for the agents who stand to make large financial gains from their actions.
Cordray said that today’s announcement is the result of discussions with Ohio’s 12 NCAA universities. He said that the calls for action stemming from a series of conference calls initiated by Alabama Coach Nick Sabin which involved Jim Tressel and others also had an impact on the AG’s proactive stance. “Nick Sabin, Jim Tressel and others asked what could be done and this is our response,” stated Cordray.
Cordray added that there were no NCAA investigations of which he was aware and that this was a proactive effort to prevent problems in the future.
“We want to send a strong message in Ohio that you are very much at risk if you are involved in this type of behavior,” Cordray concluded.
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Nice to see Ohio Attorney General take the lead on this. I hope all other states take note and follow with a similar law. Good for Tressel and Sabin for stepping up to the plate. Pete Carroll is a cock-roach and should face some sort of penalty as well. Kind of pisses me off that he is now the coach of my NFL team …… I refuse to watch any Seahawk games with him on the sidelines. Just thinking of him (oops …… I think I just threw up in my mouth) makes me sick.
Gee, Tony fianally something we can agree on. I knew we could find some comon ground. I want whats best for college football and so do you. I just hope Mr. Cordray follows through with the law. You know politicians can allways be trusted. (lol)
This breaks my heart, but nice win aginst Stanford. I think the game changed on that play when the Duck and the tight end collided. Looked like helmet to helmet to me. Happened so fast the ref didn’t see it, nothing new.
Pete the Cheat should be banned from ever coaching in college football for ever, a life time ban.
I actually sat in on the AG’s press conference via conference call yesterday. He brought up the USC case more than once but did defend the coaches and didn’t name them by name. He was sure to place all blame on the agents.
He had a good point also saying that you can’t monitor your players 24hrs a day. You would think Reggie Bush’s beach front condo might have been a tip off though.
As for seeing it through, I thought it was interesting that they’ve already sent out preemptive letters to agents. He also talked about state university legal counsel falling under the AG’s office. He’s got a good point in that if an agent causes harm to a state university, the state has the right to go after them (there is a specific Ohio law regulating agents but he said that these laws are on a state to state basis).
Think of the Bowl revenues that could be lost due to an agent meeting behind the scenes with a player not to mention all the extras that come with a bowl (apparel licensing, recruiting, visibility for sponsors). The potential is there for a player to fly under the university radar meeting with an agent. The financial incentive for an agent to break the rules, without any concern for repercussions, is huge.
The general tone of the AGs press conference was they would put just such an agent out of business.
Jim,
A couple of thoughts here …… Please don’t defend Pete ….. it is beneath you. He saw the sanctions coming and ran like a cockroach.
Also ….. Lets say you are married and have two kids at home. You and your buddies went out for a few drinks one night and you happened to meet some “hot” babe. This babe was single and she took you back to her place and you did your thing. Ends up ….. she had the clap. Anyway …… this all ends in a pretty messy divorce. Who is the responsible party here? Is it the “hot babe” who doesn’t have any commitments? Or is it the husband and father of two? I think the guy who should pay up is Reggie Bush. He should compensate USC any monies that they have lost do to his actions.
I am OK with going after the agents as well ……. but …… Reggie knew the rules and he was the one with the commitments. He is at fault here.
Don’t think for a minute that I’m defending Caroll or Reggie Bush. Carroll jumped from the sinking ship like the rat that he is. I’m just relaying what Cordray (Ohio AG) said at yesterday’s press conference. Cordray was the one defending Caroll. He kept saying things like “through no fault of the coaches.” Sure, he’s taking the safe route but please.
I do think the AG made a good point in that there are no repercussions for the agents who stand to make a lot of money by violating the rules. If they can lock up a top prospect the financial gains are huge.
You’re analogy works. There’s also something else at play here that I’ve talked about before. These are 20 year old kids we’re talking about. Wave a fancy car, a killer pad and all the bling he could ever want in his face and then tell him he can’t have it? How many 20 year old kids visit the University health clinic just for the situation you describe. Monogamy? College?