Rutgers University suspended its head football coach, Kyle Flood, for three games for making impermissible contact with one of his players' professors.
The school released a full report on its findings on Tuesday, and Rutgers President Robert Barchi addressed the matter publicly in a letter the next day, ESPN reported.
"It is clear to me that Coach Flood had inappropriate communications with the faculty member in violation of an established policy," Barchi wrote. "The policy is well-known among staff in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Coach Flood is specifically tasked with knowing both NCAA and our institutional policies regarding these issues.
"Simply, Coach Flood has no excuse for not knowing the rule and following it."
Rutgers' report found an email Flood sent to a faculty member concerning the academic status of Nadir Barnwell, a cornerback on the football team. An athletic department advisor then told Flood such contact was not allowed, though Flood apparently tried to set up a face-to-face meeting with the faculty member anyway.
Rutgers also pointed out that Flood used his personal email account in an attempt to avoid the correspondence being released via a public records request. Rutgers classified Flood's contact with the professor as a code of ethics violation, but not a violation of the school's academic integrity policy, ESPN reported.
"Any time there's a transgression, (termination) is a possibility if it's within the confines of a contract,'' Barchi told NJ.com. "I think that everything was initially on the table, from no action at all to termination. I think it would be naive to say otherwise.
"But I think what we have done is to take action that is appropriate to what we found, that is going to be seen as severe by colleagues in the coaching business, and is significant both in the number of games and the monetary impact. I think that we have basically tailored the consequences to the actions.''
Rutgers also fined Flood $50,000 and the coach said he has accepted the punishment, but was just trying to help one of his players.
"At Rutgers, we hold our student-athletes to high academic standards befitting a great university. We adhere to a higher standard, one that I am responsible to be aware of," Flood said in his statement. "I take full responsibility and accept the consequences of my actions. I care deeply about my student-athlete's academic performance. As the head coach, when I recruit players, my responsibility to them and their families is to do all I can to make sure they leave Rutgers with a degree and are prepared for a successful life off the football field."
