NCAA places Oregon football on three years of probation

George Schroeder and Daniel Uthman | USA TODAY Sports

EUGENE, Ore. — The NCAA hit Oregon with three years of probation Wednesday for major rule violations in football recruiting, and former coach Chip Kelly was given an 18-month show-cause order. But the Ducks avoided a postseason bowl ban and harsh scholarship reductions.

The show-cause order — which requires schools to demonstrate why a coach should be employed, essentially making them unemployable — runs through Christmas Day 2014. But Kelly left the school for the Philadelphia Eagles last January and is unlikely to return to college coaching before the penalty expires.

And the other penalties wouldn't appear to adversely affect the football program's ability to compete for conference and national championships. Under Kelly, Oregon played in four consecutive Bowl Championship Series bowls, including the 2011 title game. He was succeeded by former offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich; Oregon is expected to be highly ranked in preseason polls.

Oregon will be allowed to sign one fewer player in the next two signing classes, and to have only 84 players on scholarship, rather than 85, for the next three years. The Committee on Infractions largely accepted the school's proposal for self-imposed penalties — though Kelly and the school were charged with failure to monitor the recruiting activities of the football staff as related to Texas-based talent scout Willie Lyles.

According to a report released Wednesday, the Committee on Infractions found that Lyles helped recruit players by cultivating relationships and giving "the football staff valuable information that would not typically be included in the recruiting/scouting service's written reports." In a teleconference, Greg Sankey, executive associate commissioner of the SEC and a member of the Committee on Infractions, said "there were advantages gained" from Oregon's relationship with Lyles.

Sankey noted that the school and the NCAA's enforcement staff largely came to agreement on the violations.

"We pledged our whole cooperation from the beginning, and we've worked tirelessly to get to the facts," said Oregon athletics director Rob Mullens, who added that the school will not appeal the ruling. "We're glad that the facts are out today.

"No one wants to be in this position, so I don't think anyone is happy. We're pleased to be at the end of this process. We learned a lot, some mistakes were made, we corrected some of those along the way, and we still have some more things to implement."

New football coach Mark Helfrich was unavailable for comment.

The Ducks' football recruiting practices first came under scrutiny in March 2011 for a $25,000 payment to Lyles, who had close ties to several area recruits including running backs LaMichael James and Lache Seastrunk. Last October, the school submitted a proposal through the NCAA's summary disposition process that agreed to seven major rules violations and proposed self-imposed penalties including the loss of three scholarships over three years, a two-year probation and recruiting limitations.

The Committee on Infractions rejected the proposal and instead summoned the school to a hearing. But in the end, it largely accepted the school's self-imposed penalties. Oregon met with the Committee on Infractions in April in Dallas. Kelly also participated in the hearing.

The Committee on Infractions levied the following penalties:

Public reprimand and censure.

Three years of probation from June 26, 2013, through June 25, 2016.

An 18-month show-cause order for the former head coach. The public report contains further details.

A one-year show-cause order for former assistant director of operations Josh Gibson, who the NCAA found to have served as a go-between with Lyles and the Oregon coaches.

A reduction of initial football scholarships by one from the maximum allowed (25) during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years (imposed by the university).

A reduction of total football scholarships by one from the maximum allowed (85) during the 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years (imposed by the university).

A reduction of official paid football visits to from 56 to 37 for the 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years.

A reduction of permissible football evaluation days from 42 to 36 in the fall of 2013, 2014 and 2015 and permissible football evaluation days from 168 to 144 in the spring of 2014, 2015 and 2016.

A ban on the subscription to recruiting services during the probation period.

A disassociation of Lyles.

Sankey noted the school's cooperation throughout the investigation. Through last March, according to documents released to media outlets through open-records requests, the school had paid $208,991 in legal fees to the law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King.

Kelly worked directly with Lyles in the Ducks' recruiting efforts during the period in question. In a statement released by the Eagles, Kelly apologized to the school, current and former players and fans, and said, "I accept my share of responsibility for the actions that led to the penalties."

Kelly also said the NCAA investigation "had no impact on my decision to leave Oregon for Philadelphia. I have also maintained throughout that I had every intention to cooperate with the NCAA's investigation, which I did."

Mullens said Kelly reached out to him Wednesday morning and reiterated that the case had no influence on his decision to join the Eagles that he was sorry Oregon found itself in the situation. In Mullens' view, the outcome of the case does not affect Kelly's legacy at Oregon.

"I don't think it changes anything," Mullens said. "He fully cooperated in all this. He and I had a conversation that was very consistent with the statement today. He was a great coach. He was committed to compliance, and so I think that will be his legacy."

Sankey said the committee "appreciated" that Kelly and Gibson participated in the hearing. Neither could have been compelled to do so. The infractions report noted that Kelly agreed that he "failed in his duty to monitor his program as it related to (Lyles') impermissible contact with (recruits)." The "show-cause" order, which began Wednesday, expires Dec. 25, 2014. During that period, any NCAA school seeking to hire Kelly must first appear before the Committee on Infractions.

The invoice submitted by Lyles in February 2010 for a "2011 National Package" purported he would be paid for "game film and highlight film" from 22 states. Documents obtained through open-records requests indicated Lyles delivered a 143-page booklet in February 2011, around the time media outlets were beginning to question the $25,000 payment. None of the 140 players profiled in the booklet was identifiable as members of the 2011 recruiting class.

"To be honest with you," Lyles told The Register-Guard of Eugene, Ore., in June 2011, "I never thought that (booklet) would see the light of day. They asked me for stuff at the last minute."

Lyles told Yahoo! Sports and other outlets in 2011that he was paid for "influence and access" to recruits. Lyles did not return calls and text messages by USA TODAY Sports Tuesday and Wednesday. But he told Yahoo! Sports, "I agree with NCAA's penalties against Oregon because wrong people, namely the players, won't suffer."

There have been shakeups within the Oregon athletics department, whether directly related to the investigation or not. Last week, the school announced the hiring of Jody Sykes from Louisville to head its compliance department, replacing Gary Gray, who is retiring.

Barring appeal, the case took almost 28 months to wrap up, far longer than the NCAA's announced average of "shorter than 12 months." If the school appeals, it could take a little longer — up to 110 days, according to NCAA guidelines, though it could be significantly shorter.

Asked during the teleconference whether the penalties levied against Oregon amounted to a "slap on the wrist," Sankey said: "I've not met an institution that wants to go through the infractions and enforcement process. This was a multiyear effort that certainly existed, and there are penalties that do impact the program. The committee made decisions based on the information presented to it, not other speculation and evaluations."

George Schroeder, a national college football reporter for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @GeorgeSchroeder.

Daniel Uthman, USA TODAY Sports' senior editor for colleges, is on Twitter @DanUthman.