GTmorris1970
07-24-2005, 03:55 AM
PAT MOORER: CAN’T INTERFERE WITH SUMMER
The only Holtz assistant named in a major violation would seem to be one of the most unlikely: former strength and conditioning coach Pat Moorer. A former linebacker at Florida, Moorer had no recruiting responsibilities for the Gamecocks.
Moorer oversaw USC’s offseason workouts; and during the summers of 1999 through 2002, several players believed those workouts to be mandatory, which is a violation of NCAA rules.
Several players told NCAA investigators they were subject to punitive running when they missed a workout, explaining that Moorer would schedule 6 a.m. running sessions or make players run the stadium steps as punishment.
According to the summary disposition report, Moorer told NCAA officials that the only makeup runs he recalled scheduling were for missed practices in the fall and spring. One player said Holtz’s assistants occasionally would join Moorer at the summer workouts.
Holtz claimed to have no knowledge of Moorer leading mandatory summer workouts or punishing those players who did not show.
“I assume players would go,” Holtz told investigators, adding that he never had players complain to him about the summer program.
Montgomery, the former academic advisor, had reason to believe the workouts were not voluntary. As part of her responsibilities as the CHAMPS/Life Skills coordinator, Montgomery was required to schedule summer community-service projects for the football team. According to Montgomery, she was told to schedule those activities around the players’ workout schedules.
In the report, Montgomery recalled being told by Moorer that “you can’t interfere with what we’re doing in the summer.”
In response to the findings, Moorer was not allowed to work with the football team during the summer of 2004. Moorer now works with the Olympics sports programs at USC.
When the NCAA infractions committee reviews the report, it could impose a “show cause order” on Moorer, making it difficult for him to be hired at another NCAA school.
LOU HOLTZ: NO ‘MAJOR STUFF’
When the news surfaced in the fall of 2002 that the NCAA was sniffing around his program, an agitated Holtz said he was “violently upset” at the suggestion he needed to cheat to win.
Nearly three years later, Holtz seemed to be unfazed by what the NCAA uncovered. During his brief comments at Lake Tahoe, Holtz said the findings did not involve “any real major stuff that happened.”
In other words, no cash handouts to recruits and no sex scandals such as the one that rocked Colorado.
But a couple of the 80 witnesses interviewed jointly by USC and NCAA officials believe investigators were looking for more serious charges to hang on Holtz.
Kim Hudson, the former USC volleyball coach, and her ex-husband, Jim Christopher, were asked about the landscaping work two football players did at their house several years ago.
“They were really looking for somebody somewhere (who) was paying kids to come to play. I think that’s what they start out looking for,” said Hudson, who told investigators she paid the players a normal wage.
Billy Baker, publisher of the High School Sports Report, said he met with USC general counsel Walter Parham and NCAA investigator Jeff Higgins for three hours at Baker’s Goose Creek home in the spring of 2004. Higgins was curious about Baker’s hiring of Trish Thompson less than three months before her son, Moe Thompson, signed with the Gamecocks.
Baker, a USC graduate, said he told Higgins that Thompson answered his newspaper ad for a sales rep and was paid a total of $1,800 before leaving the publication.
After the interview, Baker said Higgins followed up with him a couple of times on the phone.
“I think somebody back at the NCAA really wanted to go after Lou Holtz, because they spent three years digging what they had dug,” Baker said. “I got the impression that it was as much about Lou Holtz personally as it was the University of South Carolina, and I still feel that way.”
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson@thestate.com.
The only Holtz assistant named in a major violation would seem to be one of the most unlikely: former strength and conditioning coach Pat Moorer. A former linebacker at Florida, Moorer had no recruiting responsibilities for the Gamecocks.
Moorer oversaw USC’s offseason workouts; and during the summers of 1999 through 2002, several players believed those workouts to be mandatory, which is a violation of NCAA rules.
Several players told NCAA investigators they were subject to punitive running when they missed a workout, explaining that Moorer would schedule 6 a.m. running sessions or make players run the stadium steps as punishment.
According to the summary disposition report, Moorer told NCAA officials that the only makeup runs he recalled scheduling were for missed practices in the fall and spring. One player said Holtz’s assistants occasionally would join Moorer at the summer workouts.
Holtz claimed to have no knowledge of Moorer leading mandatory summer workouts or punishing those players who did not show.
“I assume players would go,” Holtz told investigators, adding that he never had players complain to him about the summer program.
Montgomery, the former academic advisor, had reason to believe the workouts were not voluntary. As part of her responsibilities as the CHAMPS/Life Skills coordinator, Montgomery was required to schedule summer community-service projects for the football team. According to Montgomery, she was told to schedule those activities around the players’ workout schedules.
In the report, Montgomery recalled being told by Moorer that “you can’t interfere with what we’re doing in the summer.”
In response to the findings, Moorer was not allowed to work with the football team during the summer of 2004. Moorer now works with the Olympics sports programs at USC.
When the NCAA infractions committee reviews the report, it could impose a “show cause order” on Moorer, making it difficult for him to be hired at another NCAA school.
LOU HOLTZ: NO ‘MAJOR STUFF’
When the news surfaced in the fall of 2002 that the NCAA was sniffing around his program, an agitated Holtz said he was “violently upset” at the suggestion he needed to cheat to win.
Nearly three years later, Holtz seemed to be unfazed by what the NCAA uncovered. During his brief comments at Lake Tahoe, Holtz said the findings did not involve “any real major stuff that happened.”
In other words, no cash handouts to recruits and no sex scandals such as the one that rocked Colorado.
But a couple of the 80 witnesses interviewed jointly by USC and NCAA officials believe investigators were looking for more serious charges to hang on Holtz.
Kim Hudson, the former USC volleyball coach, and her ex-husband, Jim Christopher, were asked about the landscaping work two football players did at their house several years ago.
“They were really looking for somebody somewhere (who) was paying kids to come to play. I think that’s what they start out looking for,” said Hudson, who told investigators she paid the players a normal wage.
Billy Baker, publisher of the High School Sports Report, said he met with USC general counsel Walter Parham and NCAA investigator Jeff Higgins for three hours at Baker’s Goose Creek home in the spring of 2004. Higgins was curious about Baker’s hiring of Trish Thompson less than three months before her son, Moe Thompson, signed with the Gamecocks.
Baker, a USC graduate, said he told Higgins that Thompson answered his newspaper ad for a sales rep and was paid a total of $1,800 before leaving the publication.
After the interview, Baker said Higgins followed up with him a couple of times on the phone.
“I think somebody back at the NCAA really wanted to go after Lou Holtz, because they spent three years digging what they had dug,” Baker said. “I got the impression that it was as much about Lou Holtz personally as it was the University of South Carolina, and I still feel that way.”
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496 or jperson@thestate.com.