Oregon Ducks Football: Champions Or Cheaters?

The University of Oregon Ducks enter their season with high expectations. Number five in the nation, defending Rose Bowl Champions, and still needing to decide which of their quarterbacks will lead the team this season.

Assuming of course, that there is in fact, a season worth playing.

ESPN’s Chris Larsen would have you believe that the Ducks will, this season, begin a two-year bowl ban, as well as three years of lost scholarships and four years of probation. There is no evidence, mind you, none. Mere rumors are what we have here, and that’s what they should remain.

For those of you who want to read in to this a little too deeply, just know that the rumor mill is a two way street. Larsen is working out of Wisconsin, which just happens to house the team the Ducks beat in the Rose Bowl. Sound like a little rivalry fodder to you? It does to me too, and at present, that’s all it will be, for this year at least.

On the level, I will tell you that there is a possibility that some or all of this could become frighteningly real, just very likely not this season.

Oregon is alleged (keep in mind that this country is an “innocent until proven to be otherwise” nation, whether we are good at practicing those principles in the court of public opinion or not), alleged I say again to have hired and paid Willie Lyles to bring Lache Seastruck to the realization that he wanted to sign with Oregon. Lyles was paid $25,000 for his services after Seastruck committed to the Ducks, which only adds to the speculation that Lyles was hired to specifically target Seastruck, and that the scouting details on other recruits provided by him was just to keep it looking legal.

In the end, it sounds an awful lot like a toss-up, and one has to wonder if the NCAA should be spending any time on this matter at all. Oregon paid a man who was close both personally and geographically to a potential recruit to direct him toward their program. Allegedly. Perhaps they are guilty, and perhaps they are not. The real issue seems to go unnoticed.

For a program with little to zero history of wrongdoing, and no proof whatsoever yet to be released to the public that Lyles is not exactly what he claims to be, which is a salesman; why is Oregon and their long celebrated program on the chopping block? Why would Chip Kelly, who is notoriously outspoken that we do not know the entire story, turn down a shot at coaching in the NFL, to return to Oregon, only to see his proud franchise shut down?

Why would a man do that? Is it because he’s too dumb to know when to quit? Is it because he doesn’t think he will get caught?

Or is it, quite simply, because he truly believes that Oregon did nothing wrong, and that there was nothing to cover up. During the 2011-12 season, Oregon adhered to public requests for documents pertaining to Willie Lyles and Lache Seastruck. They released them, and let the chips fall where they may. They answered the NCAA’s questions, and told them to help themselves to anything in the fridge.

Nothing, I repeat, nothing, came of it. The Ducks’ season starts September 1^st, in a game against Arkansas State. I fully expect Chip Kelly to be on the sideline, looking stern and uncomfortable, as though no lead could possibly be big enough for the offensive juggernaut he has built in Eugene, and not having a single thought about Lyles, Seastruck, or the potential (not pending) sanctions.

I expect a big win that Saturday, and at least ten more. I expect a spot in the conference championship game, a little revenge on USC on their home turf along the way (maybe their kicker misses this time around, and we can have our own “wide left, wide right” rivalry going in the PAC-12), and a berth in the Rose Bowl, if not the big dance itself.

I expect Chip Kelly, the offense, the defense, and the entire coaching staff to be there for the duration. I do not expect, however, to see Lyles or Seastruck there, as Lyles is rightfully distancing himself from the program, and Seastruck is now a Baylor Bear.

When USC was handed devastating sanctions in 2010 for their willful and knowing part in the Reggie Bush money/gift scandal, they waiting six long years for a judgment, and went through a hearing and a public record of the charges well before being blown to bits by the ruling.

You may hear others cite Ohio State as having a quick sanction process, however they had self-imposed sanctions, that probably happened more to get it over with than to admit guilt over the storm Jim Tressell and Terrell Pryor saw to launch on them.

Penn State, who likely deserved the death penalty (see SMU, not “old sparky”) for the heinous crimes they allowed to transpire, will serve a four year ban from postseason play in addition to probation and loss of scholarships, and these sanctions were handed down after a trial that hinged on an investigation that went back as far as 15 years.

Oregon on the other hand, has just one possible infraction. They hired a scouting service (legally), paid them (legally), and later cut ties with said service (legally) once they felt that the info was not worth the money. The only potentially illegality is that the University may have in fact paid the scouting service to influence recruits, which violates NCAA bi-laws.

Does it matter that of the three people involved in this circus (Kelly, Lyles, and Seastruck), just one is still with the program? Does it matter that Oregon has not one “ill-gotten” gain from this deal? They landed Seastruck, only to sit him and later cut him. In the end, not really. The ends do not justify the means.

The important matter here is that Oregon may have broken a law, and they may suffer for it. The important thing to remember, though, is that Oregon has not been charged with anything. And yet guys like Larson want you to think that the Ducks are in serious trouble, right here, right now.

Now? With the season starting in 15 days? I will say this, Larson is nuts for starting that rumor. It would be extremely odd to think that the NCAA would file charges, hold a hearing, and make a ruling, all in a matter of 15 days.

15 days, until the start of the season.

That would be unheard of. Not impossible, but unheard of.

Something may happen next year, something might not. We not hear the end of this for five more years. Or, quite possibly, this saga may end as quietly and as absurdly as it began. An unused player no longer on the team would seem like small potatoes to me.

Do I fault the Ducks for recruiting Seastruck? Absolutely not. And until I hear otherwise, I have no intention of calling them something I have no rational reasoning to.

Cheaters.

I think the NCAA may just actually agree.

For now, we will keep calling them what they are:

Defending PAC-12 and Rose Bowl Champions. The road back starts September 1^st.