UM Scandal's Moving Parts Continue Churning
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Friday, the University of Florida Gators football team began looking for a new wide receivers coach as Aubrey Hill abruptly resigned.
Hill's resignation came after he was named in the second of two devastating reports detailing the claims of jailed former University of Miami booster Nevin Shapiro. The 2012 Yahoo! Sports report claimed coaches used an equipment manager to engage in recruiting violations.
Yahoo's report detailing allegations against equipment manager Sean "Pee Wee" Allen, comes roughly a year after the news agency dropped a bomb on The U when it detailed wide ranging allegations against the school from Shapiro.
Shapiro's accusations included recruiting violations, pay for play, and numerous other charges that could spark the dreaded, "lack of institutional control" charge from the NCAA.
Hill said he is resigning from the Gators to avoid becoming "a distraction as I deal with some personal issues." He thanked Gators head coach Will Muschamp for the opportunity and said Florida's "future is very bright."
Hours after Hill resigned, CBSSports.com's Bruce Feldman answered questions from readers specifically about UM's possibly stormy waters ahead. Feldman said UM will not receive anything near the hammer the NCAA dropped on Penn State for the Sandusky scandal and cover-up.
However, Feldman said UM "is likely to self-sanction another post-season ban this year at some point in the fall."
That would mean UM self-imposed a two-year bowl ban ahead of any possible sanctions coming from the NCAA.
Then there's another twist in the saga surrounding UM. According to Feldman and Yahoo's reports, the coach most closely tied to Shapiro is former UM assistant coach Clint Hurtt, who is now an assistant coach at the University of Louisville.
Feldman said that if/when the NCAA does sanction the University of Miami; the NCAA could sanction Hurtt as well.
In many major NCAA infractions cases, coaches involved in major college scandals are given what's known as a "show-cause" penalty. The show-cause penalty means that if any school wants to hire the penalized coach, they must justify the hire to the NCAA. Many times, it makes a coach or athletic official essentially unemployable.
Hurtt remains on staff for the Louisville Cardinals, but Feldman told his readers, "I'd be surprised if Clint Hurrt is a Louisville coach for the 2013 season.
The NCAA has given no indications of when/if it will impose penalties on the University of Miami's football team.
Friday evening, Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson answered questions about the story and said that he believes the NCAA will release a letter of infractions against the school in the "next few months" and that sanctions will be handed down "in the spring."
Robinson said on Twitter Hurrt's situation is "every bit as problematic" as those surrounding Aubrey Hill.
Yahoo's Robinson also tweeted that Hill's resignation was a "cumulative impact of report 1 and 2" that he authored in the last year.
