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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--documents--texts-reveal-impermissible-benefits-to-five-sec-players-202513237.html (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--documents--texts-reveal-impermissible-benefits-to-five-sec-players-202513237.html)

I hope its just another headline seeking wannabe reporter.

I'd be shocked if it isn't solid. Yahoo is the new standard of investigative sports reporting. And let's be honest: does it shock anyone that Bray is implicated in something like this?

The good news for those who claim that Bama gets treated with kid gloves is that there's a Bammer involved too. They can't punish us without going after Bama. :)

If it's on yahoo......It's got to be true!!!!

I assume you said that tongue-in-cheek, but Yahoo has quickly become a very powerful player in journalism...particularly in investigative sports reporting. Don't dismiss it out of hand!

Well, I guess Couch is done. :banghead:

Frankly, I think if the worst that happens is that Couch is booted, Tennessee comes out of this smelling like a rose. For that matter, if the worst that happens is that we vacate the first two wins of this season (along with the last couple of years), it isn't the end of the world. It means no bowl eligibility this year and it's another step back, but not a death blow. OTOH, what happens if the NCAA decides to levy harsh punishment? Remember, we're still on probation because of Kiffin's B.S. What happens if Jones decides this mess that he unknowingly inherited isn't worth it and hits the road after this season? Probably a worst-case scenario and not especially likely, but it could happen. And when it comes to UT football, I've learned to anticipate the worst. I suppose there's always hope that this Yahoo report turns out to be a bunch of malarkey but I'm not counting on it.

Yeah...i bet the ncaa is so mad at bammar and ta&m that they lower the boom on us. :mad: :mad: :mad: I now hate couch and hope he is dismissed....he must go!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

 :banghead:

This isn't the first agent scandal, and it won't be the last.  The NCAA knows that schools are all but powerless to stop this kind of stuff.  Unless they can prove that UT coaches or officials had knowledge and did nothing, we won't get hit very hard.  I think the worst case scenario is we forfeit the last two seasons.  And that's hardly a punishment, in our case (bammer, OTOH...).  Best case?  Couch is made to repay the 1200 bucks and he's on the field this Saturday.  It will probably fall somewhere in between.  

I'm with you on expecting the worst when it comes to UT athletics, but this same sort of thing has happened at just about every other SEC school, and they got nothing more than a slap on the wrist or self-imposed sanctions.  I expect the NCAA to remain consistent in this case, and I'll be royally pissed if they don't.

Logically, of course, you're right. And, logically, I'm going overboard. But, like I said...this program is cursed right now and NOTHING would surprise me. Hopefully the university takes the proper steps to clear this up quickly and the NCAA resolves it quickly. Last thing we need, regardless of the outcome, is a black cloud hanging over the season and interfering with what has been an excellent recruiting class thus far.

And it bears mentioning again here that Kiffin ran off Tajh Boyd and gave his spot to Bray. :banghead:

I can't imagine that we'd have to vacate wins. I'd say Couch will have to repay the money and that his time at UT is done, but I don't see a whole lot more happening. With the complete lack of punishment for far worse in several other cases I can't see the NCAA being able to justify much of any punishment here without the threat of a lawsuit.

I'm just glad it was agents/runners and not boosters.

At least now we know where he got the money to buy long necks to empty and hurl off of his apartment balcony. 

I am curious how CBJ handles this. Couch has jeopardized the present and future of our program. I think he is a selfish POS and should be gone. All of the positive energy that has surrounded the program these last few months has evaporated. Maybe it doesn't linger and maybe the penalty will not be too severe but i hope, with all my heart, that CBJ dismisses him and sends a message to anyone else who may be doing it that it will not be tolerated. I am pissed!!!! :mad:

Couch left practice early today. Butch insists it was due to dehydration. Couch will not play Saturday. Butch insists that it is due to injury.

I guess we'll see. Personally, I'd conduct an internal investigation, get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible, and boot him from the team.

Yes, but I can't help but mention that some posters thought we were better off without Boyd.  I believe one actually said he would never amount to anything, and that he was injured anyway.

But I never could figure out why Kiffin flew up there just to tell Boyd "no thanks".  Except that he didn't.  I have never bought that story.  Either Kiffin flamed out or said we would only take him as a WR.  Regardless, he blew it.  :mad:

If this vacates bammer's championship last year, I could almost live with losing those 5 wins last season.   :naughty:

Hold on just a minute. IF I'm not mistaken wasn't Bryce Brown ina  similar situation but only as a recruit where he took money for football camps? And if I'm not mistaken he had to repay that money and that was it. Can we not hope for a similar outcome?

IMO the outcome here will be pretty similar. Couch may have some trouble paying it back though. He's got a wife and a kid, and of course the NCAA won't let him take a job. We may have seen the last of Mo in orange, and I hate that for him. Just a dumb, short-sighted mistake.

It doesn't look like he received that much money according to the article, I only saw $500 tied to his name (unless I missed something). Granted, having a wife and kid while in college can make $500 a huge sum of money, but not impossible to raise

But if he has any hope of maintaining eligibility, the sources from which he can raise it are limited. I'm sure he can get his hands on it but it's just a tricky situation. I hope for everyone's sake that he hasn't played his last game for us but I'm not optimistic.

I just don't see how this amounts to much of anything.  Like a previous poster said, it happens everywhere...every big time college program.  Coaches can't stop it because they aren't with their players 24/7.  I just don't see how this goes back against the school.

Also, all I heard about on the radio yesterday was about bama being involved.  I truly don't think the NCAA wants to vacate Bama's championship, so I would say this is swept under the rug, especially with the piece that has come out with Ok State this week too.  Based on previous stances, aka Ohio St, Johnny Football, etc, I just don't think this is a big deal.

Hey, Manziel was held out a half. Let Couch do the same.

I don't like it and I wish that UT could somehow avoid all of this crap. It spoils the game for me.

Same here. I don't expect UT to be treated differently by the NCAA than any other program, but I wish our administration and coaches would hold themselves to a higher standard and dismiss Couch from the team.

well, we have heard one side of the story, let the investigation occur before throwing him under the bus

I just don't see that happening. I think Butch really does care for his players and I think he'll use this as a tool to teach with. As someone else said, you can't be with them 24/7. Plus, How the heck does Bama get away with photos of Richardson driving an Escalade?

The fact that the coach can't be with the players 24/7 is exactly why the players should be held to a higher standard. I can sympathize with someone who makes a foolish mistake, but as Dan Wetzel wrote yesterday, this stuff is out of control. It isn't going to improve until players start to be held accountable. I'm sure Butch does care for his players...all the more reason to hold Couch's feet to the fire, IMO. Through his actions he jeopardized his teammates and the program. What if it had been a booster instead of an agent offering him money?

 
Here here!!!  I heard someone say to let the investigation run its course before we throw him under the bus....Have you seen the extreme detail in the report?  He is completely and undoubtedly guilty.  There are western union transfers directly to him.  He has jeopardized our program....he has violated rules that he clearly knew were violations....he has given us a black eye.....he does not deserve to be on the team and if we keep him then we have compromised our principles and are no better than the stinking bammars.  We are better than that.  CBJ needs to send a message that this will not be tolerated.  I dont care if he is a good guy, he screwed up and hurt our program....a program that he knew was already on probation.  Selfish, stupid act for a few hundred bucks.  JMHO

More to it than that.  The latest I heard, straight from a bammer alum, is that Richards "baby mama" and mama were "house sitting" in Birmingham and a couple other places for a quite a bit of his stay at the Crapstone.  This is apparently a well known thing.  Likely the owners that needed "house sitting" were bammer alumni or boosters, almost for sure.  Whether anything comes of it, Richardson seems to have gotten as much or more than Reggie Bush.  I suppose what's missing is a disgruntled agent that got screwed over and decided to rat.   Of course, although so far as I know, no agent was involved in Richardson's case, the legislature passed a law after the Langham fiasco saying that any agent who paid bammer players was subject to prosecution.  Yeah they take football too seriously down here.... :frown:....but whoever paid the bammer player might be doing jail time.   :eek:

Im surely not jumping to conclusions OJ, but even you have to admit that this doesn't look good at first glance....

BTW, have you heard from Pete lately?