Calls for major NCAA change might be defining moment -- not Penn State decision
INDIANAPOLIS -- With the Freeh report in his hands amid the biggest scandal in college sports history, NCAA president Mark Emmert had his moment -- and he seized it in the most public and substantive way possible: handing down unprecedented sanctions against the vaunted Penn State football program ahead of going on a national media tour to talk about the decision.
A year to the day after he stood in Indianapolis and announced his plans to change the culture of college athletics in light of the Penn State child sex abuse case, Emmert stands amid even more significant developments: In recent days, influential conference power brokers such as SEC commissioner Mike Slive, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and ACC commissioner John Swofford have been publicly and loudly calling for change in the organization Emmert oversees, while also questioning its entire leadership structure.
The Penn State announcement was supposed to be the defining moment of Emmert's tenure. But instead of signifying his and the organization's status as tough on NCAA crime, it has become Emmert's Waterloo moment. Since that announcement, his leadership style, combative personality, and most of all, his decisions, have directly intersected with an NCAA in deep crisis. Employees are headed for the exits in droves, and instead of helping to alleviate the NCAA's problems, the man at the top may be compounding them.
"It's been one misstep after another," said a longtime administrator and former NCAA staffer, echoing the statements of several sources who have spoken to "Outside the Lines."
The perceived crisis of Emmert's leadership also has dovetailed with an NCAA at a pivotal intersection of its own. The drumbeat from BCS football-playing schools is growing steadily, with demands that they find their own place in the NCAA structure, apart from the other schools that look different, and most of all, spend differently.
<object data="http://player.ooyala.com/player_v2.swf" class="OoyalaVideoPlayer" id="ooyalaPlayer928003154_tke0tm7pfb" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="324" width="576">
</object>
<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&adSetCode=91cDU6NuXTGKz3OdjOxFdAgJVtQcKJnI&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:9502055&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script>
INDIANAPOLIS -- With the Freeh report in his hands amid the biggest scandal in college sports history, NCAA president Mark Emmert had his moment -- and he seized it in the most public and substantive way possible: handing down unprecedented sanctions against the vaunted Penn State football program ahead of going on a national media tour to talk about the decision.
A year to the day after he stood in Indianapolis and announced his plans to change the culture of college athletics in light of the Penn State child sex abuse case, Emmert stands amid even more significant developments: In recent days, influential conference power brokers such as SEC commissioner Mike Slive, Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby and ACC commissioner John Swofford have been publicly and loudly calling for change in the organization Emmert oversees, while also questioning its entire leadership structure.
The Penn State announcement was supposed to be the defining moment of Emmert's tenure. But instead of signifying his and the organization's status as tough on NCAA crime, it has become Emmert's Waterloo moment. Since that announcement, his leadership style, combative personality, and most of all, his decisions, have directly intersected with an NCAA in deep crisis. Employees are headed for the exits in droves, and instead of helping to alleviate the NCAA's problems, the man at the top may be compounding them.
"It's been one misstep after another," said a longtime administrator and former NCAA staffer, echoing the statements of several sources who have spoken to "Outside the Lines."
The perceived crisis of Emmert's leadership also has dovetailed with an NCAA at a pivotal intersection of its own. The drumbeat from BCS football-playing schools is growing steadily, with demands that they find their own place in the NCAA structure, apart from the other schools that look different, and most of all, spend differently.
<object data="http://player.ooyala.com/player_v2.swf" class="OoyalaVideoPlayer" id="ooyalaPlayer928003154_tke0tm7pfb" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="324" width="576">
</object>
<script src="http://player.espn.com/player.js?playerBrandingId=4ef8000cbaf34c1687a7d9a26fe0e89e&adSetCode=91cDU6NuXTGKz3OdjOxFdAgJVtQcKJnI&pcode=1kNG061cgaoolOncv54OAO1ceO-I&width=576&height=324&externalId=espn:9502055&thruParam_espn-ui[autoPlay]=false&thruParam_espn-ui[playRelatedExternally]=true"></script>
