The NCAA placed Notre Dame on academic probation for a scandal concerning an athletic trainer and a student.
WNDU reports:
The NCAA found that she committed academic misconduct for two football players and gave six other players impermissible academic extra benefits.The university self-reported the potential violations and kept five players off the field before the 2014 season.In addition to a year’s probation, the university was reprimanded and censured.Every win from the 2012 and 2013 seasons will be vacated. In 2012, Notre Dame won 12 games and lost to Alabama in the BCS National Championship game.The student trainer has been disassociated from the program.
Notre Dame’s football coach, Brian Kelly, explained:
Kelly announced plans to appeal the NCAA’s decision, requiring the team to forfeit their wins:
“It’s never happened before in the history of the NCAA. The penalty has never been issued in this fashion before,” Kelly said. “I think that qualifies for being, first of all, it was discretionary. This is a discretionary action by the committee. That’s No. 1. No. 2, student-on-student cheating, nobody implicated. The NCAA agreed across the board with that finding, and it was clearly excessive, so we’re gonna appeal this, and one of the options or clear reasons for appeal is that the penalty is excessive in its discretion and we believe we have obvious grounds there.”Kelly said he bears no culpability for the academic misconduct that occurred under his watch. He said he plans on being back in 2017 for an eighth season, saying criticism from this 4-7 season stems from the Fighting Irish’s lack of success and is independent of this NCAA situation.
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