Louisiana Voice

LSU’s football program got a lot of national attention last year, deservedly so.

LSU’s football program is getting a lot of national attention this year, deservedly so.

Last year it was the kind of attention a head coach and a school can only dream of.

This year it’s the kind of attention for a head coach and a school that causes nightmares.

To set the stage for this post, let’s try and put things into perspective.

The top 100 collegiate football coaches in America earn COMBINED SALARIES of more than $302.5 million. That’s an average of just over $3 million each.

It’s a relatively easy guess as who the top earner is: Alabama’s Nick Sabin, who pulls down $9.3 million a year with a buyout clause (in case the school was crazy enough to want to fire him) of $35.8 million. That means if he were to be fired today, the school would have to pony up more than $35 million.

The second-highest-paid coach is none other than LSU’s Ed Orgeron, who, even counting the 10 percent cut imposed because of the coronavirus hit to sport revenue, makes a pretty cool $8.9 million per year and who has a buyout clause worth $23.85 million. (That buyout clause could be important; I’ll explain why presently.)

There are three other Louisiana coaches who fall into that elite top 100 ranking:

• Willie Fritz is paid $1.8 million a year by Tulane. No information was available on his buyout.
• Billy Napier makes a million a year at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, with a buyout of $4.6 million.
• Skip Holtz at Louisiana Tech is paid $700,000 per year and is secure with a buyout of $3.7 million.

No question about it, LSU football is big business. In the 2018-19 academic year, the program had a NET PROFIT of $56.6 million on $92 million in revenue. No doubt, with last year’s stellar undefeated season with a Heisman Trophy and coach of the year winners to go along with a dozen or so other top awards, capped by a national championship win over Clemson – right down the road in New Orleans, no less – the bottom line was even better. That $56.6 million net profit, by the way, was just about equal to the $56.4 million overall budgetary SHORTFALL for LSU.

Of course, the school library is CRUMBLING. But hey, when you have sports facilities that are second to none, who really needs a library, right?

And yes, I know the athletic department gives some of its profits to academics but that’s hardly the point here. The point is we seem to have lost our sense of priorities about what is and what is not the primary function of a university. And let’s not forget that LSU is the only state school where athletics pays its own way – and that argument becomes a myth if you remove the support of the Tiger Athletic Foundation. At every other school, athletics is a drain on the state budget.

It’s not like college is a place for serious pursuits like learning what with fraternity hazing, a basketball program on the verge of probation for recruiting violations and football players who are treated like ROYALTY.

And when I say royalty, it’s not an exaggeration. Just check out the $28 million dressing room facilities for the Tigers HERE and HERE. I mean, do jocks really need LUXURY SLEEP PODS where players can listen to their favorite music? And the football locker room is just one top shelf facility in the LSU athletic complex. Click HERE to see a few others.

And of course, royalty is never held accountable for bad behavior under the theory of sovereign immunity which, loosely translated, means the king can do no wrong.

And therein lies the problem. It’s a serious problem that conjures bad images of Baylor, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State and dozens of other universities. An investigation found that college athletes are over-represented in sexual assault cases – and LSU is no exception.

University of Florida professor FRANK LoMONTE was quoted by USA Today as saying, “People in higher education have come to regard their institutions as a brand and will do anything to protect the brand, even if that means putting people on campus at risk.”

Again, LSU, sadly, is no exception.

After USA Today published allegations that former running back DERRIUS GUICE was accused of raping two women his freshman year, former student and part-time worker in the university’s football recruiting office Samantha Brennan came forward to report that Guice had secretly taken partially nude photos of her. But Guice, who would go on to an outstanding sophomore season, not only remained on the team, but was not even disciplined. Looking back, the entire episode smells of a coverup.

A former tennis player, Jade Lewis, has also come forward to report that former LSU wide receiver/boyfriend Drake Davis once hit her in the stomach and continued his physical abuse of her. Davis was eventually dismissed from the team. Apparently, he didn’t possess the same skill set as Guice.

Steve Spurrier, while head coach at Florida, routine cautioned his players that if any one of them ever hit a woman, he could consider himself an ex-Gator, no questions asked. And LSU coach Jerry DiNardo was quick to show Cecil “The Diesel” Collins the door in 1999 after he twice broke into women’s bedrooms in Baton Rouge. Undaunted by Collins’s sexual propensities, McNeese promptly picked him up for the Cowboys’ team. He went on to be drafted by the Miami Dolphins but just couldn’t keep it in his pants and wound up serving hard time for sexual assaults in that city.

When Brennan attempted to obtain a copy of her complaint report from campus police, the school responded by denying her a copy of the report she herself had filed. She was told the school was “having trouble” locating the report. LSU did give her a one-page, four-sentence “initial incident report” that was devoid of details, including Guice’s names and the fact he’d shared the photo with others. The school then proceeded to ignore all her subsequent requests until she called from a different phone number and demanded the full report.

LSU then denied her request, saying the statute of limitations had not expired and that a “criminal investigation” was expected, though it was not said who would initiate such an investigation since Brennan had indicated she did not want to press charges and despite the fact that LSU police had never shared information from the report with the East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s office.

Brennan and USA Today sued the university for the records on three other cases involving football players and LSU finally produced them on Nov. 13 but redacted the names of the suspects, citing the players’ right to privacy. LSU also has refused to provide records to Lewis. Privacy be damned! If I ever file an assault complaint against anyone, I better be able to obtain a copy of my own complaint.

The onus cannot be laid exclusively at Orgeron’s feet. Lewis says she reported her physical abuse at the hands of Drake to women’s tennis coach Julia Sell who responded by advising Lewis’s teammates to stay away from her. Sell’s husband, Mike Sell, even told Lewis’s father that Davis could derail her career – even while denying any knowledge of the Davis assault. The Sells have denied that Lewis ever complained to them about Davis.

Perhaps circling the wagons is the definition of teamwork in the LSU Athletic Department. If so, those in charge of the decision-making process should understand that no matter how bad the crime, the coverup is invariably much worse in the long run. And protecting thugs gives the whole program a black eye. In any other area of society, these same coaches – and the same rabid fans –  would demand swift and severe justice. So why a double standard in these cases?

No good can come from LSU’s refusal to cooperate with these victims and no good can come from protecting players who believe because they have access to tutors to ensure that they maintain their eligibility and because they are treated like they are special, that they are somehow immune to consequences for their behavior. Ignoring problems of this magnitude won’t make them go away. That never works.

No national title is worth the pain inflicted on these women. Why ignore their plight on behalf of someone with runaway testosterone?

Those responsible for this coverup, if that indeed is what it is, should be penalized – even to the extent of terminating their employment.