TAMPA, Fla. — The University of South Florida is facing a series of penalties after the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions found it failed to monitor its football and women's basketball programs.
"The South Florida football and women's basketball programs exceeded the number of allowed countable coaches and the women's basketball program required student-athletes to exceed weekly limits for countable athletically related activity," the NCAA wrote in a press release.
As a result of the violations, the NCAA also says the former football coach and the women's basketball coach violated the responsibility rules of their position.
The coach at the time of the violations is reported to have been Charlie Strong, per Action Network football insider Brett McMurphy.
During a period of three academic years, the university was reported to have seven then-noncoaching football staff participate in "on- and off-field instruction during practices."
It's an act the NCAA says put the football program beyond the allowed number of countable coaches.
"In one case, a then-noncoaching football staff member provided skills instruction to student-athletes and led film assessments and instruction," a press release reads.
At some point, the NCAA says the USF compliance department learned of the football violations and provided additional education to the football staff, including Strong, but nothing changed.
According to the NCAA, the football program continued to allow the seven non-coaching staff to provide instruction and even had equipment managers use headsets to "alert noncoaching staff members when compliance staff were attending football practices, so the additional violations of countable coaches rules were not discovered."
As for the women's basketball program, it's reported to have also exceeded its number of allowed countable coaches over a three-year academic period. The team's staff is also accused of exceeding the allowed number of hours per week for athletic activities.
Examples given include requiring student-athletes to shoot 50 daily free throws in addition to scheduled practice times, complete weekly cardio workouts outside of scheduled practice times and, on one occasion, requiring the team to practice until 11:30 p.m.
"The school, the women's basketball head coach and enforcement staff also agreed the coach did not promote an atmosphere for compliance when the coach did not monitor the basketball staff's involvement in violations and because the coach was present when some of the violations occurred," the NCAA wrote.
The team's head coach, Jose Fernandez, who has coached the team for 22 years, says these were isolated incidents and that he "aprreciate[s] the NCAA's diligence in this inquiry and take full responsibility."
"I will continue to work closely with our compliance department to ensure our program maintains a level of compliance that aligns with the NCAA’s high ethical standards," he added.
According to a press release, the school and enforcement staff also agreed that during two academic years, USF failed to report known "Level III NCAA violations" involving several of its programs.
“USF Athletics places great emphasis on and is committed to the highest level of integrity and NCAA rules compliance. While I am disappointed to have discovered actions that did not uphold these values, I am pleased with the professionalism and speed with which our compliance and administrative staff self-reported and collaborated with the NCAA for a thorough review," the university's Vice President of Athletics, Michael Kelly said in a statement to 10 Tampa Bay.
"I believe we have a strong culture of compliance at USF. As such, we will use this as an opportunity to learn and improve as a department as we continue to pursue best practices and the highest standards of compliance," he added.
As a result of the infractions, the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions has issued several penalties, including:
- Three years probation.
- A $10,000 fine and 0.5-percent of both the football and women's basketball program's budgets.
- Initial football scholarships for 2022-2023 will be reduced by two.
- A one-game suspension for Strong if he should return to coaching at the collegiate level.
- A one-year "show-cause" for the women's basketball coach that includes a 15-hour suspension from regular-season practices.