San Diego State has offered to reduce its on-field practice activities by one hour during the first week of football practice next month as a result of having slightly excessive practice time in March 2007.
The SDSU athletic department recently self-reported the rules violation to the NCAA after an internal investigation found the team had about a 15-minute walk-through last year in excess of NCAA practice limits.
The investigation stemmed from an undisclosed allegation. Coach Chuck Long said during the investigation earlier this year that he favors the NCAA's practice limits.
“I hope they never add any more practices than what we have,” he said then.
The self-inflicted punishment is not likely to have much of an impact on the first five days of practice, when teams normally are limited to three hours of practice per day plus a walk-through. It could mean a reduction of just 12 minutes per day – a far cry from SDSU's previous NCAA punishment for a more flagrant violation of practice limits. In 2003, the NCAA placed SDSU on two years' probation for violations including impermissible offseason activities and failure to monitor them.
The latest case was one of at least five self-reported minor rules violations by SDSU in the past year. Like other schools, the Aztecs typically have a handful of cases each year in which minor NCAA rules are broken incidentally or unintentionally. They usually result in nominal punishment such as a letter of admonishment and other paperwork.
The NCAA considers the self-reporting of such violations a positive sign of a school's diligence in rules compliance, no matter how arcane some of the rules may seem.
For example, in November SDSU found that offensive coordinator Del Miller loaned a football to quarterback recruit Drew Westling. By rule, a recruit can't be given such equipment. So SDSU called for a letter of admonishment to Miller. In addition, Westling was declared temporarily ineligible until the repayment of the “benefit” to charity.
In September the school found that linebacker Freddie Dunkle had competed in the season opener while not enrolled full time, a rules violation. As a result, SDSU withheld Dunkle from the next game against Arizona State.
In the previous two years, SDSU reported a combined 18 similar minor violations.
In court
Arguments were heard by a Superior Court judge yesterday in SDSU strength coach
David Ohton's second whistle-blower protection suit against the school.
In February, Ohton sued Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel, football strength coach Jon Francis and others, alleging ongoing retaliation against him in the athletic department.
The suit states Francis was “illegally promoted” to his position without the more experienced Ohton being given the opportunity to apply for it.
A ruling is expected next week.
