Rutgers President Says Football Coach's Actions "Crossed A Line That All Faculty Hold Dear"

Rutgers Football Coach Kyle Flood has been suspended for three games and fined $50,000, because he had “inappropriate communications” with an instructor about a player’s academic standing, according to the university.

“The policy is well-known among staff in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics,” University President Robert Barchi said in a prepared statement. “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.”

But, he said, Flood used his personal email to contact the instructor and also had an in-person meeting with the professor.

“For his violations of University policy, I have suspended Coach Flood for three consecutive games of inter-collegiate competition effective immediately,’’ Barchi said in the statement. “I also have imposed a fine of $50,000. I believe that the discipline is severe and justified for his failure to follow policy.”

The school is now working with outside counsel to determine if any National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bylaws were violated, the statement said. They said they will be working with the NCAA Enforcement staff.

The school’s statement did not name the player, but NJ.com has said it was Nadir Barnwell. Barnwell, 20, of Piscataway was among the football players arrested earlier this month on assault and riot charges, in connection with what authorities have described as an unprovoked attack on a group of people on Delafield Street in New Brunswick.

After their arrest, the players were suspended from school and dismissed from the team.

In a statement, Flood said he took full responsibility and accepted the consequences of his 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. I am proud that our program has ranked in the top 10% of the APR (Academic Progress Rate) 8 years in a row. That success doesn’t happen by accident. It’s due to our top-to-bottom program culture emphasizing the importance of academic success, and it’s why we have a robust academic support staff that is second to none. I will always instill in my players that they have a responsibility to themselves, their families, our University and its alumni to perform well in the classroom, and I will never stop caring about their academic performance.

“Moving forward, I will make sure I adhere to all University policies and I will place an even greater emphasis with our staff on knowing, understanding and following every University, Big Ten and NCAA rule.”

According to Barchi’s statement:

The allegation was first reported to the University on Aug.12.

Within 24 hours, after consultations with senior staffers, the school retained an outside investigator and counsel and the investigation began.

The final investigative report was issued Tuesday.

Here are the major findings:

• “Coach Flood knew or should have known of well-established University policies prohibiting coach-initiated contact between coaches and members of the faculty regarding a student-athlete’s academic standing. The responsibility for such contact strictly rests with our athletics academic advisors under the purview of the Office of the New Brunswick Chancellor.
• “Coach Flood used his personal email to contact the faculty member and had an in-person meeting with the faculty member regarding the academic standing of a member of the football team. The multiple email contacts came both before and after the meeting, which occurred at an off-campus location.
• “A member of the athletics academic advising staff reported that she reminded Coach Flood, after he sent the initial email but before he had the in-person meeting with the faculty member, that he is not to have contact with any faculty member regarding a student’s academic standing. Coach Flood nevertheless moved forward with the previously scheduled meeting with the faculty member.
• “After meeting with Coach Flood, the faculty member agreed to review an additional paper as partial satisfaction for the requirements of a course the student had already completed. The paper was submitted to the faculty member but ultimately was not graded and the academic status of the student and his final course grade remained unchanged.
• “Coach Flood and the student both have acknowledged that Coach Flood provided grammatical and minor editorial suggestions to the submitted paper. The Office of Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance consulted with senior campus academic officials, including the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Chancellor, Rutgers-New Brunswick, who both agreed, after reviewing the paper before and after the edits, that the assistance provided by Coach Flood was in line with standard student support offered on campus by student learning centers and did not constitute academic misconduct.”

In the statement, Barchi said he met with Flood Wednesday afternoon to inform him about suspension and fine.

“He has accepted responsibility for his actions and my discipline,” Barchi said. “As a member of the faculty and as a former Provost myself, I know that Coach Flood’s actions in communicating with the faculty member crossed a line that all faculty hold dear. Our faculty must have complete independence in executing their duties and there is a reason why we prohibit athletics coaching staff from discussing the academic standing of students with faculty. We have policies in place to protect academic integrity and to ensure that any faculty member, whether tenured or untenured, whether full-time or part-time, is free of intimidation and interference by outside parties.”

In a statement, Rutgers Director of Athletics Julie Hermann said she supposed Barchi’s decision to suspend and fine Flood and also said she had full confidence in Coach Norries Wilson, who will lead the team for the next three games. Rutgers is set to play Penn State on Saturday.

“All of us must use this as an opportunity to grow as coaches, administrators and staff,’’ Hermann said. “We have been in the process of instituting additional compliance training as it relates to University policies on athletic-faculty communication and continue to enhance our documentation of all compliance-related meetings.”

The full report, with some redactions as required by privacy laws, is available here: http://president.rutgers.edu/files/Final-Report.pdf.