September 16, 2015
To put it mildly, the last couple of weeks have been trying for Kyle Flood. The next few might be easier, because it’s not as if he’ll have any work to do. On Wednesday, Rutgers president Robert Barchi announced that the school's head football coach has been suspended for three weeks and fined $50,000.
In addition to a host of Rutgers football players getting in trouble off the field, the university had been looking into possible rules violations. Barchi announced the punishment Wednesday, a day after he said he received an internal investigative report. From the Associated Press:
The report found that Flood emailed and met in person with a faculty member even though he knew or should have known of the university's policies prohibiting coach-initiated contact with faculty members regarding students' academic standing.
The report also found that Flood provided grammatical and minor editorial suggestions for a player's paper to complete a course. The report said that assistance was in line with standard student support offered on campus by student learning centers and did not constitute academic misconduct.
The penalty comes with Rutgers football reeling from a series of player arrests and suspensions over the last month. Six players have been dismissed from the program following arrests and three former players were arrested. Star receiver Leonte Carroo was suspended for a second time this season after he was charged with body slamming a woman he was once romantically involved with following the Scarlet Knights' loss to Washington State on Saturday.
Rutgers is currently experiencing a ton of turmoil, which will make their win over Penn State on Saturday all the more embarrassing for the Happy Valley faithful.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
