INDIANAPOLIS – NCAA President Mark Emmert has spent 2½ years trying to push through historic reforms and get tougher on cheaters.
It’s only created more problems.
Today:
Emmert presides over an organization that is struggling to maintain credibility with the public, is tied up in multiple court cases and is tainted by an embarrassing internal scandal.
He has been criticized for his governing style and personality.
There have been questions surrounding the work he did in previous jobs and whether he overstepped his authority in punishing Penn State for the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
He drew fire for pinning blame for the debacle in the Miami investigation on enforcement officials, and some question whether he should lead the NCAA through its next major overhaul – fixing the governance structure.
The optional four-year scholarship he supported barely survived an override vote last year.
The Emmert-backed $2,000 stipend did not. An override petition in December 2011 ended the opportunity to give athletes money above and beyond the cost of tuition, room and board, books and fees. Emmert repeatedly has said there would be a new proposal, though none has been offered.
The rule-book rewrite hasn’t gone as quickly or been quite as far-reaching as hoped, either.
Meanwhile, a group of current and former athletes led by Ed O’Bannon is suing the NCAA for allowing their images and likenesses to be used in a video game. If the athletes win, the amateurism rules policing college sports may never be the same.
Another federal lawsuit accuses the NCAA of being lax in establishing clear policies regarding concussions.
Critics contend there only is one way to restore the NCAA’s tattered image: Find a new president.
“He should have been gone yesterday, as far as I’m concerned,” said Gerald Gurney, Oklahoma’s senior associate athletic director for academics and a former compliance director at Maryland.
Emmert has ignored the growing calls for his resignation, and he has no exit strategy.
In February, the board of directors gave the embattled president an unusual public vote of confidence. A few days later, NCAA executive committee chairwoman Lou Anna Simon, Michigan State’s president, offered her personal backing. Emmert took those moves as an endorsement of his agenda, so that’s been his primary concern over the last 5 months.
“I’ve certainly not considered resigning, and I’ve always felt that I had the good, strong support of my board and my executive committee. As long as we continue to make progress on behalf of student-athletes, then I want to be part of that,” Emmert said.
