Duke University professor Orin Starn makes writes on the “controversy” at the University of South Carolina where head football coach Steve Spurrier threatened to resign if the school did not change its admission policies.
Spurrier was obviously using the threat as a ploy with the institution to get what he wanted. It started when two prized recruits, one of whom is from North Carolina, was denied admission because they did not meet the school’s admission standards. The athletes had qualified under the NCAA guidelines.
Starn argues that Spurrier’s temper tantrum is another sign of how college athletics – especially football – is out of control. He’s not the only one who has denounced Spurrier’s recruiting arguments.
He writes,
The episode underscores the bullying, oversized power of college sports
in our universities today. Big-money celebrity coaches already make
triple or more the salary of the university president. They demand
high-tech, ultraluxury facilities to compete in the college sports arms
race. And now one of the country’s top football coaches threatens to
jump ship if he can’t have his way with admissions.
So far, sadly, it looks as though Spurrier has gotten what he wanted from the institution. University of South Carolina officials are planning to review its admissions process.
In response, Spurrier said,
I feel positive President [Andrew] Sorensen and the university administrators
will revise our recruiting process to where we’re all satisfied and we
can eagerly and enthusiastically go about our business in recruiting.
