The Oregon Ducks are being punished under NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations under head coach Chip Kelly. The Ducks will lose one scholarship each of the next three years along with a 3-year probation, though they won’t be missing out on any bowl games.
Chip Kelly is now the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL, but he’s still apologizing for his involvement in the violations.
“Now that the NCAA has concluded their investigation and penalized the University of Oregon and its football program, I want to apologize to the University of Oregon, all of its current and former players and their fans,” Kelly said in a statement. “I accept my share of responsibility for the actions that led to the penalties.”
The violations stem from an incident in 2010 which connected the Ducks to a $25,000 payment to Willie Lyles for his recruiting services. On top of probation and losing scholarships, Oregon’s official paid recruiting visits will go down from 56 to 37 over the next three academic years and the NCAA sanctions have also placed an 18-month show-case order on Chip Kelly.
In this case, any college that tries hire Kelly will have to go in front of the infractions committee before bringing him in. That may never become an issue if Kelly is successful with the Eagles, but it’s still a reminder to all college football team’s that improper recruiting practices will not be tolerated.
With the investigation over, Kelly also made it known that he didn’t leave the school for the NFL in hopes of running from the infractions.
“As I have stated before, the NCAA investigation and subsequent ruling had no impact on my decision to leave Oregon for Philadelphia,” Kelly added on Wednesday. “I have also maintained throughout that I had every intention to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation, which I did.”
Do you think Chip Kelly should face more punishment for his involvement in the Oregon Ducks NCAA violations which led to probation?
[Image via Creative Commons ]
