Doug Lesmerises of The Plain Dealer, doing public records work:
None of the violations, among the 46 reported in 21 sports since May 30 of last year, are a big deal on their own, nothing close to the major violations that threw the football program into turmoil during 2011. The violations were released to The Plain Dealer on Thursday in response to a records request filed to Ohio State on April 18 for all NCAA violations committed by the school's athletic department dating back to May 30, 2011. That was the date on which former football coach Jim Tressel was forced to resign.
What does "nothing close to major" mean, exactly?
- Urban Meyer telling Noah Spence "good luck" as he walked past him before a prep playoff game.
- Mike Vrabel chewing tobacco on the sidelines during games.
- Basketball team video coordinator Greg Paulus actively coaching players during a Big Ten semifinal blowout win over Michigan. [Ed - Okay, this one may be worth violating at every opportunity. Seeing your video coordinator lead a 22-point throttling of the Sun and Blue is kind of priceless.]
- Stan Drayton accidentally sending a text message instead of an email.
However, one secondary violation was a little troubling from a they should have known what they were doing standpoint:
Athletic director Gene Smith and alumni association CEO Archie Griffin recorded a personalized video for football recruit Ezekiel Elliott for his official campus visit on March 31. Recruiting videos are forbidden.
The video, which first appeared on this site on April 2nd, was quickly pulled from YouTube. Likely because your athletic director, of all people, should know that making a recruiting video is not really a good idea.
Other than that, the violations are pretty routine and if nothing else, illustrate the insanity that is the NCAA rulebook.
