Or how about last March? Wouldn't you have wanted to know the most accurate probability of Jerel McNeal playing in the NCAA tournament, injury and all? And what if Tom Crean himself would reveal all such information straight to your e-mail inbox?
Well don't get your hopes up.,”If you're a Marquette basketball fan, how cool would it be to know "insider" information, stuff like what recruits visited the team recently even though they may have orally committed somewhere else?
Or how about last March? Wouldn't you have wanted to know the most accurate probability of Jerel McNeal playing in the NCAA tournament, injury and all? And what if Tom Crean himself would reveal all such information straight to your e-mail inbox?
Well don't get your hopes up. Chances are Texas A&M head football coach Dennis Franchione ruined any chance of that ever happening at Marquette.
Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne announced Thursday that Franchione was admonished by the university for the coach's role in a secretive newsletter that was sent out via e-mail to select boosters for $1,200 a year. Byrne also said the newsletter would be taken into consideration when evaluating whether to bring back Franchione next season.
Considering Franchione makes $2 million as the head coach of a Big 12 conference program and that he pulled in a net profit of $37,806.32 from those newsletter e-mails and his personal Web site — CoachFran.com — the slap on the wrist Byrne issued seems almost comical.
Yes, the school is conducting an internal investigation, the results of which will be sent straight to the NCAA should any rules violations become evident. And yes, the university made Franchione shut down his Web site immediately.
But we're talking about a serious breach of ethics. This guy, what? Forgot to mention to the powers-that-be at A&M that he was generating more than pocket change on the side by selling off closely guarded team secrets to a bunch of big-money donors?
Byrne admitted to the Associated Press that he thought Franchione consciously attempted to keep university administrators from finding out about his doings. Byrne also said he thought the whole scheme started out well-intended but "just got out of control."
On top of all that, a copy of Franchione's contract, obtained by the Associated Press, specifically states that the coach must inform the school president, in writing, of any outside income. Income from Web sites was even listed as an example.
Despite all that, a "letter of admonishment" was the worst punishment Byrne and his associates could come up with? Here's a guess as to the gist of the note: Dear Denny, don't do this again. Or else!
Franchione may hold a pedestrian 30-24 record during his four-plus seasons at the Aggies' helm, but this season he's got his boys off to a 5-1 start. Should A&M finish out the season with two or three losses and a strong showing in a respectable bowl game, you can expect Byrne to overlook Coach Fran's newsletter scandal during end-of-the-year evaluations.
Sure, Franchione may have violated the terms of his contract, put the program at risk of committing NCAA violations and broken Big 12 Conference sportsmanship standards, but can he motivate the Aggies to beat the likes of Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska?
Sadly, that will determine Franchione's job status come January, not whether he's a trustworthy and honorable employee.
Byrne made sure to point out it was Franchione's longtime personal assistant, Mike McKenzie, who actually wrote the emails. Franchione probably was not even fully aware of the content of the newsletters most of the time, Byrne surmised.
Yeah. Right. The head coach of a major D-I football program allowed some minion to send out e-mails full of highly confidential team information without taking even a glance at the final product before it was sent into cyberspace? That would make Franchione either A) irresponsible or B) dumb.
McKenzie no longer is employed by A&M, making him the sacrificial lamb of this whole ordeal.
David Batson, A&M's compliance director, told the AP that neither Franchione nor McKenzie were aware of the newsletter being used by the boosters for gambling purposes, and Franchione told the AP he had asked the recipients not to do so.
Great, Coach. Way to look out for the integrity of the game.
Too bad you had less concern for the integrity of the institution you represent.
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