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Greed and College Football Programs - The Program playbook for stealing a recruit's future.

By Steve Lombardi

p /p blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"emstrongCoach and Program Greed ndash; a great personal injury on our young athletes./strong/em/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"A conscience can be a very difficult thing to live with. A conscience properly molded can be a very valuable tool that some day may provide your student athlete with what is necessary to visit you in a nursing home, or to wheel you around in a wheel chair, or to care for your daily needs when you are no longer able. Leave molding that conscience to the vices of coaches and college athletic departments and you may find yourself alone while watching televised pro football games wondering why your pro-athlete-son seldom if ever visits you./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"Athletic departments are selling these programs in a way that is intellectually dishonest. The ADrsquo;s talk about toughness, motivation, goals, and building a foundation for the program; but nothing is said about how the coach demands the players be honest and that the program teach them to be good citizens. Notice how a href="http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/121308aab.html"the AD for Auburn mentions nothing about the program or coachrsquo;s character for loyalty/a./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p style="background: white"bi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;/i/bbi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Dec. 13, 2008/i/bi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /i/p p style="background: white"bi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"AUBURN - /i/bi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"a href="http://auburntigers.cstv.com/photos/schools/aub/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/Chizik.pdf"bGene Chizik biographical information in PDF Format/b/a a target="_new" href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html"img height="10" alt="Get Acrobat Reader" width="10" border="0" src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/STEPHE~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image001.gif" //a| img height="7" alt="" width="11" border="0" src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/STEPHE~1/LOCALS~1/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.gif" /a href="javascript:window.open('http://all-access.cbssports.com/player.html?code=aubamp;media=96072%20','VideoBroadcastMediaPlayer','toolbar=no,resizable=no,scrollbars=no,width=1000,height=690'%20);%20void('');"Watch The Press Conference/a /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Gene Chizik, a former Auburn defensive coordinator and current head coach at Iowa State, has been named the head football coach at Auburn University, Athletics Director Jay Jacobs announced Saturday. /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Chizik, who helped Auburn and Texas to consecutive undefeated seasons in 2004 and 2005, will be formally introduced as /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"'s 26th head coach at a press conference Monday. /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Chizik, a 23-year coaching veteran, was Auburn's defensive coordinator from 2002-04, where he helped guide the Tigers to a 13-0 season in 2004 while earning the Frank Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach. He also served as the assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator at /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Texas/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" from 2005-06 where he helped the Longhorns to a perfect season and national championship in 2005. /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"quot;I'm extremely proud and excited to have Gene returning to /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" to take over as head football coach of this program,quot; Jacobs said. quot;I know that we have found the right fit for /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal". Gene's body of work during his 23 years in this profession is remarkable. He has a strong knowledge of this athletics program, this university and the community, and he knows how to be successful in the Southeastern Conference. He is a high-energy coach that is an outstanding motivator and demands a tough, physical style of football. I'm confident that Gene can build upon the foundation that has been established and make this a program that competes for championships on a consistent basis.quot; ldquo;/i/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"ISUrsquo;s Coach Chizik is gone having moved onto greener pastures. Iowa needs now to learn from itrsquo;s own past mistakes of conscience. We should say good riddance and focus on what is important; rebuilding the meaning of what our word means./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Iowa/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"State/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" Athletic Director Jamie Pollard confirmed Chizik's departure in a statement released late Saturday afternoon: quot;Gene Chizik confirmed for me that he has accepted the head coaching position at /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal",quot; Pollard said in the statement.rdquo;I'm disappointed for our /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Iowa/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"State/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" fans and student-athletes that he has chosen to leave our program after only two seasons. I understand that it (/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal") is a dream job for him, but the timing and the way it played out has been hurtful and disappointing. Although this is a significant setback, we will get through the challenge because the /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Iowa/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"State/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"University/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" Athletics program is far greater than one person.quot;rdquo;/i/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"In the movie Jerry McGuire during contract negotiations a gifted football player, Rod Tidwell implores his agent to ldquo;i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"a href="http://object width=quot;425quot; height=quot;344quot;param name=quot;moviequot; value=quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/D7ir_6Hip1Eamp;hl=enamp;fs=1quot;/paramparam name=quot;allowFullScreenquot; value=quot;truequot;/paramparam name=quot;allowscriptaccessquot; value=quot;alwaysquot;/paramembed src=quot;http://www.youtube.com/v/D7ir_6Hip1Eamp;hl=enamp;fs=1quot; type=quot;application/x-shockwave-flashquot; allowscriptaccess=quot;alwaysquot; allowfullscreen=quot;truequot; width=quot;425quot; height=quot;344quot;/embed/object"show me the money/a/irdquo;. While Tidwell catches passes and takes hits running pass patterns across the middle he knows what everyone else in football knows, that trying to hold onto those passes and your soul while maintaining any moral fiber at the center of your universe is hard to do when paychecks amount to millions./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"And so goes a href="http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/aub-m-footbl-body.html"Auburn/arsquo;s football program, Gene Chizik and yes ISU. Chizik, Auburn and ISU know that the stories they told their young football recruits about team and the greater value of team sports amounts to empty promises and will go right out the window when the time comes to show us the money./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"uParents know this:/u/b i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"What they should be telling your talented football, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, skier, snowboarder and others is that team loyalty to you and yours is for sale to the highest bidder./i/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"What happened at ISU with Chizik is all too familiar. Two seasons ago the Iowa State football program wished to change its coaching staff. The program wasnrsquo;t doing badly, but some associated with the program hoped for more; simply stated more wins. Even though the State of Iowa through the Iowa State University Athletics Department had given their word and a gentlemanrsquo;s handshake to Coach McCarney the booster dollars meant more. We all know they live by the code: i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"When money talks, the coach walks/i. (Show me the money.)/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"ustrongWe all know they live by the code:/strong/uemstrong i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"When money talks, the coach walks/i. (Show me the money.)/strong/em/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"This wasnrsquo;t always a common thread in Iowa athletics. Thirty years ago our word meant something; today our loyalty isnrsquo;t to a higher moral ground but to i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"The Program/i. The Program has become the-all, the-everything, the-code-to-live-and-die-by. It appears that moral standards in Iowa have change in the past thirty years from being a moral promise between people into a verbal somewhat of a promise to a sport program. We now live by standards where past and apparently acceptable community standards allow state run sport programs to go back on their written word. Words put into contracts that allow the program to terminate the contract when well-heeled boosters want change which requires the Program to show the coach the door./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"emustrongHere is the fanrsquo;s point of view. /strong/u/emJust two seasons ago Chizik gave us his word to build i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"the program/i and now hersquo;s going back on i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"his word./i Chizik is a bum because he hasnrsquo;t rebuilt i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"the program/i, suddenly and without sufficient notice hersquo;s walking out on his players and is in essence selling out i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"the program/i just to be paid more money./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"emShow me the money!/em/p /blockquoteblockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"strongHere is the history lesson: /strongemstrongIsnrsquo;t that what i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"The Program/i did to McCarney?/strong/em/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"I donrsquo;t see how we can point the accusatory finger when ISU isnrsquo;t any better than Auburn. They did what ISU did; with the exception they were dumb enough to hire a 5 and 19 coach whose pledge of loyalty is admittedly no better than a wet paper towel./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"Coaches sell their program to the parents of young recruits by promising parents they will mold the child athlete into a good and moral citizen. I wasnrsquo;t aware that good moral citizenship allowed one's word to be set aside when greener pastures come calling. Since leaving local community soccer I must have missed something. When did the rules change? I thought coaches were supposed to set a good and high moral example; one that players could learn from and to live by./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p style="background: white"bi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;/i/bbi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Dec. 17, 2008/i/bi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /i/p p style="background: white"bi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"AUBURN - /i/bi style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn football has signed Nick Fairley to a National Letter of Intent during the JUCO signing period, announced head coach Gene Chizik Wednesday. /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Fairley is a 6-4, 295-pound defensive lineman who played at Copiah-Lincoln CC in Wesson, Miss. He will have three years of eligibility remaining at /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal". /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"As a redshirt freshman in 2008, Fairley was an All-Region XII selection in the state of /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Mississippi/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" after recording 63 tackles, including nine for loss and seven quarterback sacks in seven contests. /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"A native of /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Mobile/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal", /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Ala./ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal", Fairley attended high school at Lillie B. Williamson where he was named to the 5A All-State team by the /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Alabama/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" Sports Writers Association as a senior in 2006. He was a 5A Lineman of the Year finalist as a senior, while grading out at 97 percent on the offensive line. He also caught five passes for 150 yards as a tight end and had over 90 tackles on defense. /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Fairley's complete bio is below: /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Nick Fairleybr / DL, 6-4, 295br / /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Mobile/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal", AL (Lillie B. Williamson) ldquo;/i/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"And what about those recruits? Hopefully the promises made to Mr. Fairley and his parents will be written on paper stronger than a soggy paper towel./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"Some Iowans are asking what Auburn is doing with raiding other programs and where is the NCAA with rules and regulations that stop larger programs from poaching medium sized programs and medium sized programs poaching small colleges and universities? Competition is good but when good citizenship is a lower priority than show me the money, there is too high a cost. The foundation of high moral character, loyalty and living a respectful life is truth. You build a program on truth not on showing me the money./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"Dave Dutton a lawyer in Waterloo once said to me, ldquo;i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Remember, if you live by the sword then be ready to die by the sword./irdquo; Daversquo;s father, being a minister in Colfax, Iowa he grew up sitting through many a sermon. His closing arguments were peppered with Biblical quotes. One in particular that he used with limited success in Sioux County talked about i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"one party yelling about the splinter in the opposing personrsquo;s eye in order to distract the jury from the log sticking out of their own/i. ISU is living by the sword, where its lawyers have become more important than the intended meaning of its word. ISU canrsquo;t blame Auburn for doing what it also does to smaller schools. If the end justifies the means in Iowa then it does at Auburn too./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"The ISU athletic department and boosters are doing just that; screaming about the splinter in Auburnrsquo;s eye because of the log sticking out of its own. Remember what goes around comes around and what you did with McCarney hasnrsquo;t been forgotten./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"Coach Chizik you donrsquo;t get off without a scolding from me. You sat in living rooms recruiting young athletes to a program in which your loyalty could certainly be questioned. Some parents might even be heard to claim they were lied to. Thatrsquo;s just my guess but hearing players after you announced leaving makes this a pretty safe bet. What we need to know is the timetable of when you started thinking of applying to the Auburn job in relation to recruiting, and team meetings while promoting team spirit and loyalty./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"emMy word is my bond; stronger than oak vs. my word is my word today, strong as a hedge fund monthly statement of account. /em/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"What did Chizik say right after leaving ISU? Does it give us any indication of what he really was thinking when he took this job? Here is what comes off of the Auburn Athletic website./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p style="background: white"quot;i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Through my travels in coaching over the last 23 years, there's one place that I've always wanted to return to and that is /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal",quot; Chizik said. quot;The tradition of the /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" football program combined with the passionate fans and their love for /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" are second to none. My family and I are /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" through and through, and look forward to being part of the /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Auburn/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" family and community.quot; /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"quot;I am dedicated to working tirelessly to win championships,quot; Chizik said. quot;We will not be outworked in any facet of the building process. I'm excited to get on the recruiting trail, meeting with the current players and reconnecting with past players. We want to develop young men into champions not only on the playing field, but in the classroom and in the community.quot; /i/p p style="background: white"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"During his two seasons at /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Iowa/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"State/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal", the 46-year old Chizik was in the midst of a rebuilding process, directing the Cyclones to a 5-19 mark. The /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Iowa/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"State/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" administration rewarded Chizik's leadership and vision for the program by offering him a two-year contract extension following this season./i/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"ustrongDan in Real Life/strong/u/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"What did a href="http://www.cyclones.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10700amp;ATCLID=682268"Dan McCarney do that was so bad that Iowanrsquo;s would ask him to step aside/a? I met McCarney one night at Flemmings in West Des Moines. Barbara and I asked the waitress to offer to his table dessert on us. He came to our table to thank us, declined the extra calories then sat down with us and after he left all I could think of was what a decent guy he is. Read below the ISU site press release because today itrsquo;s a good lesson for us all to remember. Like Lucy we Iowans have some splaining to do. Is loyalty just something we did quot;in the day?quot;/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"AMES/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal", Iowa ndash; Dan McCarney, the longest-tenured and winningest coach in /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Iowa/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"State/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" history, has decided to step down as Head Football Coach. McCarney made the announcement jointly with Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard Wednesday./i/p p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt" /p p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;I am announcing today that I will step down from my position as Head Football Coach at /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Iowa/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"State/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"University/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" at the conclusion of this season,rdquo; McCarney said. ldquo;Sometimes, you just know itrsquo;s time. As hard as it is to say that ndash; especially because I know that this department is on the cusp of some special things ndash; I realize it is time for different leadership. I have led the football program for 12 years. That is a long time in this day and age to lead any organization.rdquo;rdquo;/i/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"Coach Gene Chizak came to Iowa State University to do a job. To do that job he needed gifted athletes, to which he pledged his loyalty. He broke that pledge for his i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"dream job/i. How now does he look recruits in the eye and tell them not to go to their dream school instead of Auburn?/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"ISU pledges itrsquo;s loyalty to the coach and to i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"the program/i. It broke that pledge to McCarney because i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"it was time to leave/i. How now can i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"the program/i point the accusatory finger at Auburn for coach-poaching?/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"The ISU Coaching staff pledged their loyalty to the players and parents then broke that pledge i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"claiming to not know it was coming/i. Good luck with future recruiting questions about how important telling the truth is to your program. If the coach hasnrsquo;t a conscience it doesnrsquo;t mean the athletic office personnel should check theirs in the parking lot./p blockquote p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;McCarneyrsquo;s tenure included a 55-84 overall record (26-67 Big 12), five bowl appearances, the first two bowl wins in school history and a 6-6 record (6-3 since 1998) against state-rival Iowa. He coached a two-time first-team All-American in /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Troy/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" /ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Davis/ii style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal" (1995 and 1996), 13 First-team All-Big 12 selections and 78 Academic All-Big 12 honorees. McCarneyrsquo;s 2004 club was co-champion of the Big 12rsquo;s North Division and he was named conference Coach of the Year. Two of his quarterbacks ndash; Seneca Wallace (Seahawks) and Sage Rosenfels (Texans) ndash; started NFL games this season and the schoolrsquo;s record book was re-written during his tenure./i/p p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt" /p p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;The bottom line is that we didnrsquo;t win enough games and that is the measuring stick in this business,rdquo; McCarney said. ldquo;I respect the vision that Jamie (Pollard) has for this department. My lone regret is that I wonrsquo;t be part of that future. I felt a change in the leadership of the football program was in the best interest of the overall department, and I am at peace with this decision. Certainly, I am very proud of many things we accomplished over the past 12 years, but we did not experience enough victories in 2006 to keep the momentum going.rdquo;/i/p /blockquote p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"The program should pledge itrsquo;s loyalty to the coach, the coaching staff, the players, fans and boosters but above all to setting the right example. All involved have failed woefully. All are chanting the same line, ldquo;i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"Show me the money!!!!/irdquo; All share in the dishonor associated with Chizik; all except one. Dan McCarney bowed out gracefully and with honor./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;McCarney expressed gratefulness for the chance to return to his native state 12 years ago and join the Cyclone family./i/p p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt" /p p class="Normal1" style="margin: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt; tab-stops: 360.0pt"i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"ldquo;I canrsquo;t begin to count the blessings that I received at ISU,rdquo; McCarney said. ldquo;The positives far outweigh the negatives. Irsquo;ve made countless friends and formed lifetime relationships with coaches, staff, players and fans. Bringing respect back to this program has been a lsquo;teamrsquo; effort. I could go on and on with names of people who believed in this program, rolled up their sleeves and made good things happen. Rather than risk leaving people out, however, I simply offer a comprehensive lsquo;thank yoursquo; to everyone who pitched in.rdquo;rdquo;/i/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"Must student athletes stoop to the level of Chizik? Hell no! If you wish to send him a message next season win games. If recruits want a good education in a decent program then choose Iowa and ISU because itrsquo;s right for your future. You can choose to be a better person than all of the above combined. You can choose to live by your word. Yes money is important but when it comes at the expense of your honor choose to do the honorable thing./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"Here is my Christmas gift to the athletes and their parents./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 54pt; text-indent: -36pt; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"1. Donrsquo;t pick your school by the coach; make the selection based on the school and the programs past practices for truthfulness./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 54pt; text-indent: -36pt; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"2. Record all meetings between your son/daughter/parent and any recruiter; including the coach. Get out the movie camera and let it roll./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 54pt; text-indent: -36pt; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"3. Get the coaches and athletic administrator to make all promises in writing and to sign/date them. Record the promises with the coach acknowledging this is a promise to you. Again, get out the movie camera./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 54pt; text-indent: -36pt; tab-stops: list 54.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1"4. If they break those promises then sue them in Court, making them explain to an Iowa jury of peers about their dream job./p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"McCarney would have done his players a favor by suing the program and forcing them to be honest. Some coach has to have the guts to stand up for something. Chizikrsquo;s recruits would do well to sue him and the program to force them to do the right thing. Forget the NCAA they are interested in the bigger picture (emTelevision revenues/em) of which yoursquo;re a bit player. Again, show me the money!/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"If those associated with i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"the program/i think itrsquo;s acceptable to lie to athletes, or walk out on programs for that ldquo;i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"dream job/irdquo;; or to dismiss good coaches ldquo;i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"because itrsquo;s time for a change/irdquo;; then itrsquo;s time parents and taxpayers write a new play book. The title of this playbook will be recruited player vs. coach, school and program staff./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"emstrongWith the exception of Coach McCarney, all involved with this program get a grade of F. /strong/em/p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt"emstrongYoursquo;ve all proven my mother right; there is no honor amongst thieves./strong/em/p /blockquote p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0pt" /p p /p pobject width="425" height="344"param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/D7ir_6Hip1Ehl=enfs=1"/paramparam name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/paramparam name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/paramembed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/D7ir_6Hip1Ehl=enfs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"/embed/object/p p /p pa href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7ir_6Hip1E"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7ir_6Hip1E/a/p p /pa href="http://desmoines.injuryboard.com/miscellaneous/greed-and-college-football-programs-the-program-playbook-for-stealing-a-recruits-future.aspx?googleid=253724"Originally posted/a at a href="http://www.InjuryBoard.com"InjuryBoard/a by a href="http://www.injuryboard.com/member-profiles/Steve-Lombardi"Steve Lombardi/a

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on December 22, 2008 (boomark / email).