The decision and future of Penn State football has been decided and I want to weigh in as briefly as possible. I won't talk about the scandal, who hid what from whom, or who got hurt, this is about the football team.
The penalties are as follows for the Penn State football program:
Probation for five years
$60 million sanction
Four-year bowl ban
Vacates all wins from 1998-2011 of former coach Joe Paterno
Loss of 10 scholarships per year for four years (40 total)
Rodney Erickson has shown that he is the wrong man for the job at Penn State. I understand that the position he is in is a terrible one, but not an impossible one to make decisions for both sides. He, as the university president, must look out for the image of the college, as well as the faculty, students, and culture of the college (football is Penn State). When these sanctions were slid across the table for him to sign off on, he couldn't wait to sign off and start making this go away. Had the NCAA asked him to abolish football all-together he would've did a little jig on the top of the table if they'd asked. He could've asked, pleaded, begged, for the “death penalty” and gotten it, and Penn State football would've been better off. Bottom Line: He made a bad decision, he had room to maneuver, he could've at least tried.
Now onto the penalties...
Probation for 5 years- this is accurate, and acceptable.
$60 million in sanctions- this money will be donated at some time to charities dealing with the scandal. Universities like Penn State won't sweat $60 million.
Vacate all wins from 98-11 of Joe Paterno- This does nothing but infuriate the students, Paterno family, and Paterno fans and friends. It doesn't erase his legacy, but it's just rubbing salt in the wound. The man is dead, and this entire scandal probably helped accelerate his passing. He made bad choices, everyone does. What he did on the field has nothing to do with his mistakes off-field.
Four-year bowl ban- This hurts the players already at the college. The seniors looking to play out their entire career at Penn State.
Loss of 10 scholarships per year for four years (40 total)- This sets the football program back at least four years, but surely more. I think this was pretty harsh despite the chain of deception and everything involved with the scandal. I believe five scholarships per year for four years (20 total) would've sent a strong message.
Players on the team can transfer and become eligible immediately to play- Stick a knife in them, they're done. There isn't any reason for any senior that has aspirations for NFL Sundays to stay at Penn State. The university is a mess, the chain of command is a mess, and if you can leave and play immediately, why stay? The football program is set back probably a decade now because of the sanctions, if not more.
Bottom Line: Penn State football is dead for at least a decade. Players around the country who would've played for them, won't. They've lost recruits, will lose current players, fans, money, and anything else that can be taken.
The NCAA flexed their muscles in the wrong way here, but that's what the NCAA does: make mistakes. It doesn't matter the sport, but in the past seven months in basketball and football, it has shown that they have made mistakes in how they handle business. The NCAA needs an overhaul in the way they handle things. The NCAA needs someone to balance them.
