After reading some of the stuff going on the past few weeks it seems like there is an issue with the culture of football team and possibly the entire athletic department.
1st we can discuss the email incident. Flood really screwed up here. He emailed and then met a part time prof. The reason for using his personal account was to avoid an open records request. He supposedly didn't wear any RU clothing for the meeting to not attract attention. He asked the prof in this meeting if Barnwell can do extra work to raise his grade. Then when the paper was written he proof read it and provided correction advice. In addition, he supposedly was told by academic support that he shouldn't contact a prof directly but did anyway. Since Rutgers is an academic institution this stuff can't happen since it sabotages the integrity of the institution. While not as bad as a no show class or other stuff we have seen by other schools, this is bad since the athletic dept has to abide by the rules of the University and not give athletes an advantage that other students cannot get. How would you feel if you were in a class with an athlete where you struggled a bit and earned a "C". When you asked for extra credit to raise your grade you were told no. In the same class a starter for football or basketball also earned a "C" but because the athletic dept reached out to the prof that athlete was able to do extra work to raise the grade to a "B".
2nd we have the arrests. While the incidents were away from the program they were involving students recruited into Rutgers by Flood and his staff. But what is bad is the incidents did involve a student being assaulted by members of the team. In addition, some off-campus student residences were part of the home invasions. You also have some dorm thefts involved. The issue that Barchi and the administration has to consider is regarding students being endangered. If there is a culture on campus while the football team (or athletes in general) are put on a pedestal and allowed to do what they want then the culture will continue and more students will be endangered. If it does not change you will see NJ parents choosing not to send their kids to Rutgers and choosing other state schools or send their kids out of state. This can potentially lower the Rutgers academic profile if the future better students that are part of the current RU profile decide to go elsewhere and RU has to accept the next rung of students.
3rd we have the Caroo situation. If this was in a vacuum it would not be as news worthy but on top of the other stuff it may be icing on the cake. He was charged with simple assault which can be as minor as pushing his female acquaintance to the ground where she got some minor scrapes / bruises. Since it happened after a Rutgers football loss on the property of the University (Hale center) it is a football story. If this was a stand alone incident then it may have led to a 3-4 game suspension for Caroo, required harassment training, and probably a settlement with the young lady where she gets her education paid for or just straight money.
Honestly, I do not see how Flood will survive this. The only way it may happen is because of money if RU is not able to buy him out and does not think it has the evidence to terminate his contract. The 3 week suspension may be when the University and Flood discuss a buyout. The academic email thing alone is bad but the athletes under his care that endangered other students makes it worse and may show lack of control for the men he brought into the University community. On top of that Julie may be on a very short leash now too. She is probably looking for new opportunities as this unfolds.
I don't blame the press for this since they didn't screw up but reported the screw-ups. It is NJ and the press loves screw ups at all levels (ie. Bridgegate).
I am not sure Rutgers will be able to be a successful top athletic program because of the liberal politics of NJ. We are in a culture in our state where there is low pride in the state University. The police and lawyers will time events to assure they can get maximum press and power. If this was FSU, the arrests would have happened in July and not a week before the season. The email situation would have been handled behind closed doors and the Caroo situation would have been handled like the Winston situation was.
If Flood and possibly Hermann are shown the door we may be headed to a 4 to 5 year period where football will become more like Indiana, Cal, Duke, and Kansas where a 6 win season will be a success since i don't see the school wanting to spend 2+ mil on a coach..
While this may be extreme, I would not be surprised if this leads to Barchi / Hermann announcing a self inflicted 2 year bowl ban for football as they work to fix this culture.
1st we can discuss the email incident. Flood really screwed up here. He emailed and then met a part time prof. The reason for using his personal account was to avoid an open records request. He supposedly didn't wear any RU clothing for the meeting to not attract attention. He asked the prof in this meeting if Barnwell can do extra work to raise his grade. Then when the paper was written he proof read it and provided correction advice. In addition, he supposedly was told by academic support that he shouldn't contact a prof directly but did anyway. Since Rutgers is an academic institution this stuff can't happen since it sabotages the integrity of the institution. While not as bad as a no show class or other stuff we have seen by other schools, this is bad since the athletic dept has to abide by the rules of the University and not give athletes an advantage that other students cannot get. How would you feel if you were in a class with an athlete where you struggled a bit and earned a "C". When you asked for extra credit to raise your grade you were told no. In the same class a starter for football or basketball also earned a "C" but because the athletic dept reached out to the prof that athlete was able to do extra work to raise the grade to a "B".
2nd we have the arrests. While the incidents were away from the program they were involving students recruited into Rutgers by Flood and his staff. But what is bad is the incidents did involve a student being assaulted by members of the team. In addition, some off-campus student residences were part of the home invasions. You also have some dorm thefts involved. The issue that Barchi and the administration has to consider is regarding students being endangered. If there is a culture on campus while the football team (or athletes in general) are put on a pedestal and allowed to do what they want then the culture will continue and more students will be endangered. If it does not change you will see NJ parents choosing not to send their kids to Rutgers and choosing other state schools or send their kids out of state. This can potentially lower the Rutgers academic profile if the future better students that are part of the current RU profile decide to go elsewhere and RU has to accept the next rung of students.
3rd we have the Caroo situation. If this was in a vacuum it would not be as news worthy but on top of the other stuff it may be icing on the cake. He was charged with simple assault which can be as minor as pushing his female acquaintance to the ground where she got some minor scrapes / bruises. Since it happened after a Rutgers football loss on the property of the University (Hale center) it is a football story. If this was a stand alone incident then it may have led to a 3-4 game suspension for Caroo, required harassment training, and probably a settlement with the young lady where she gets her education paid for or just straight money.
Honestly, I do not see how Flood will survive this. The only way it may happen is because of money if RU is not able to buy him out and does not think it has the evidence to terminate his contract. The 3 week suspension may be when the University and Flood discuss a buyout. The academic email thing alone is bad but the athletes under his care that endangered other students makes it worse and may show lack of control for the men he brought into the University community. On top of that Julie may be on a very short leash now too. She is probably looking for new opportunities as this unfolds.
I don't blame the press for this since they didn't screw up but reported the screw-ups. It is NJ and the press loves screw ups at all levels (ie. Bridgegate).
I am not sure Rutgers will be able to be a successful top athletic program because of the liberal politics of NJ. We are in a culture in our state where there is low pride in the state University. The police and lawyers will time events to assure they can get maximum press and power. If this was FSU, the arrests would have happened in July and not a week before the season. The email situation would have been handled behind closed doors and the Caroo situation would have been handled like the Winston situation was.
If Flood and possibly Hermann are shown the door we may be headed to a 4 to 5 year period where football will become more like Indiana, Cal, Duke, and Kansas where a 6 win season will be a success since i don't see the school wanting to spend 2+ mil on a coach..
While this may be extreme, I would not be surprised if this leads to Barchi / Hermann announcing a self inflicted 2 year bowl ban for football as they work to fix this culture.
