B1G commissioner Jim Delany opens up about recent conference scandals
Scandals are nothing new to college athletics. It wasn’t built into the original infrastructure of the business, but it’s somehow worked its way into the framework.
Unfortunately for the B1G, it’s been a little too prevalent over the past decade.
CBS Sports writer Dennis Dodd addressed that issue recently, talking with B1G commissioner Jim Delany regarding the slew of scandals that have rocked the conference since 2010.
Dodd highlighted 16 significant scandals that have broken since 2011, including:
- The Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State (2011)
- Jim Tressel’s knowledge of “Tattoogate” and his subsequent firing at Ohio Stat (2011)
- Illinois firing Tim Beckman for influencing medical, injury reports (2015)
- Indiana firing Kevin Wilson for alleged player abuse
- Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal at Michigan State (2017)
- Zach Smith scandal domestic violence scandal (2018)
- Player abuse investigation at Maryland (2018)
While Dodd notes that the conference has had a problem with scandal over the last eight years, he acknowledges that not all the dots can be connected between the severity of the scandals and the universities that are handling them.
He asked Delany about the issues that have plagued his conference for nearly a decade.
“It’s a problem for us, but it minimizes an epidemic that is a problem for our country,” Delany said regarding criminal behavior. “I, as a conference commissioner, don’t have the answer.”
Delany also commented that several schools have taken necessary actions in wake of scandals, even with some of the more high-profile coaches.
“Before I cam and after I came, there were a lot of hall of fame coaches that didn’t finish their career here,” he said. “That’s not true at a lot of places. That’s the definition of institutional control.”
Ohio State fired Tressel for “Tattoogate” and Woody Hayes after hitting a player on the sideline. Indiana also fired Bob Knight after he broke a zero tolerance policy instituted at the campus.
Delany also stated that he knows this isn’t just a B1G problem, but that it’s an epidemic all across college athletics.
“Anyone who has the idea that this is isolated to a school or a conference or a region of the country, I think you’re really not looking at what is going on,” Delany said.
“I make a big distinction from criminal conduct on one hand, and on the other hand, Maryland has announced its investigation. There is a terrible death of one person. They’ll work through that. They’ll investigate that.”
While the conference has had trouble with scandals throughout the decade, the situation involving Urban Meyer at Ohio State and D.J. Durkin at Maryland have really spurred a larger conversation.
To read Dodd’s full story, you can visit CBS Sports.