Analysis: After mistake, Oregon followed right protocol

George Schroeder | USA TODAY Sports

During a teleconference Wednesday morning, Greg Sankey protested the idea that the NCAA's penalty against former Oregon coach Chip Kelly for his role in major recruiting violations was "toothless."

"I'm not gonna go through a dental exam," said Sankey, the SEC's executive associate commissioner who is a member of the NCAA's Committee on Infractions, as he proclaimed an 18-month show-cause order to be significant. Never mind that Kelly was long gone to the Philadelphia Eagles, or that he was unlikely to be interested in a return to college coaching before the show-cause order – which essentially makes him unemployable at an NCAA school – expires on Christmas Day 2014.

"I've not met a person who is seeking to have a show-cause order applied to them," Sankey continued. "The committee does find it meaningful, even in the circumstances where someone may have left – and it's meaningful in this case."

Sankey is correct. At least in a symbolic sense, it's a stain on Kelly's reputation and his legacy at Oregon, even if it is not a career-ending sentence.

Meanwhile, the sanctions were even less damaging to the Oregon football program he left behind. There's no bowl ban, and a couple of lost scholarships won't prevent the Ducks from remaining a national title contender. Given the $25,000 Oregon paid to talent scout Willie Lyles for his influence with recruits, the sanctions are less a slap on the wrist than a hand on the shoulder.

The temptation is to draw larger conclusions about the sorry state of NCAA enforcement. Don't, though. When it comes to punishment for broken rules, the NCAA has always been unpredictable and inconsistent. Two things about this case are remarkably consistent.

Cooperation. And lawyering up.

Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens said Wednesday the punishment "fits with what the facts were." Debate that if you want, but one fact isn't in dispute:

Very soon after the NCAA started digging, Mullens did a very smart thing. He picked up the phone and called Mike Glazier, an attorney who's well known for helping high-profile schools navigate NCAA investigations.

From there, the case followed a tried and true blueprint. When it comes to breaking rules, what's often most important isn't what happened, but how a school responds – and with whom. Sankey noted Oregon's cooperation with the investigation, which is always important. But it's also true the Ducks played the game well.

Through March, Oregon had paid almost $210,000 in legal fees to Glazier's firm Bond, Schoeneck & King (the final number will be higher). For a school that some think bought its way to prominence with an infusion of cash from Nike founder Phil Knight, that's peanuts – and it might be the best money the Ducks have ever spent.

Glazier's role is to defend against allegations, but it's as much to help take the facts and craft an alternate narrative in order to mitigate the damage. In this case, with plenty of gray area in the NCAA's rules on scouting services, he had a lot of room to maneuver. That the Committee on Infractions accepted almost every penalty Oregon recommended shows how successful he was.

By late December 2014, if things haven't gone well in Philly, it's hard to imagine a big-time college program wouldn't find Kelly very attractive. The key numbers wouldn't be $25,000 and 18 months of banishment, but 46-7 and four BCS bowls.

Meanwhile, Oregon is immediately on track to keep adding to that total. Mark Helfrich takes over a fast, talented team that is free to keep switching uniforms and running past opponents in pursuit of the BCS championship. There's nothing in the NCAA penalties to slow them, this year or beyond.

The show-cause order on Kelly actually expires Christmas Day. Considering what could have happened, Oregon received the best possible outcome, gift-wrapped by Glazier.

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