Unsealed Emails Show USC Football Investigation Badly Mishandled by NCAA

Amidst the pandemonium of March Madness, a major break related to the treatment of USC in 2010 might prove troublesome for the NCAA. CBSSports.com obtained access to recently-unsealed emails regarding the NCAA investigation into Reggie Bush and the USC football program. The documents were unsealed because of an ongoing lawsuit between the NCAA and former USC running backs coach Todd McNair, who is suing for defamation, in an attempt to prove NCAA committee members were biased against McNair and sought to influence their colleagues.

Unfortunately for the NCAA, it appears McNair’s lawyers might have a point. Some of the most damning excerpts from the over-five hundred pages of emails accessed include non-voting members of the Committee on Infractions disparaging McNair, admittance of a “botched interview” by investigators, and even an odd attempt to compare the investigation to that surrounding the Oklahoma City bombing, claiming there was stronger evidence against USC than Terry Nichols.

The emails can be viewed here. Other choice passages include:

• McNair being referred to as a “a lying, morally bankrupt criminal” and that “McNair should have all inferences negatively inferred against him.”
• The insistence that the appearance of guilt outweigh the presence of actual evidence: “We need not say why we disbelieve him, we only need to let the public, or whomever, know that we do disbelieve him.”
• The idea that hiring Lane Kiffin was evidence to sanction USC: “Paul Dee was brought in at Miami to clean up a program with serious consequences. USC has responded to its problems by bringing in Lane Kiffin. They need a wakeup call that doing things the wrong way will have serious consequences.”
• Extensive trepidation about the wisdom of communicating these ideas via email: “I am concerned about confidentiality both because I do not know the California open records law and because several of us use our institutional email accounts at public institutions.”
• Expressed concern that the case against USC using McNair as centerpiece doesn’t actually hold-up: “It is challenging for me to make the finding when there is no allegation that he personally was involved in any rules violations, or even had any specific knowledge of any.”

USC has responded with unsurprising indignation about the findings, with athletic director Pat Haden claiming they confirm the university’s long-held suspicions regarding the investigation and sanctions. The NCAA, on the other hand, remains combative, stating it “engaged in a comprehensive, deliberative process and did not act with malice,” and that “the documents, including committee’s email correspondence after the hearing which has received the most attention, further demonstrate that the Committee on Infractions is not a body of single-minded individuals but rather a group of individuals with different perspectives who worked diligently to reach a consensus based on information presented to the committee.”

While it is up to a California district court of appeals to make the final ruling, the verbiage used in the documents and the NCAA’s lack of transparency certainly doesn’t help its bruised public image and reputation as a bully.