Bad News for USC: NCAA Denies Todd McNair’s Appeal

Back in February Patroclus gave us an update with USC's efforts to formally appeal the findings and sanctions subjected from Bu$hgate to the NCAA's Infractions Appeal Committee. While officials from USC made their formal presentation to the committee in January, a final decision from the NCAA based upon that presentation as well as briefs and the records from the infractions committee is still looming on the horizon.

Today NCAA spoke up he appeal of Todd McNair the former running back coach who is one of the key figures in this mess. Okay many here also know about McNair's other sketchy past as a dog fighter.  The news is not good for the former Trojan as the NCAA denied his appeal:

INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee has upheld the finding of violation and associated penalties for the former assistant football coach at the University of Southern California.

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions found that the former assistant coach spoke with agency partner (an individual who was in the process of forming a sports agency and marketing company in partnership with student-athlete 1 and his parents) who asked for assistance in convincing a then-current student-athlete 1 to adhere to an agreement with the agency and reimburse the agency partners for money and benefits previously provided to student-athlete 1.  The committee found that the former assistant coach violated NCAA ethical conduct rules by providing false and misleading information about his knowledge of this telephone call and failing to report the potential violation.

You can read the full release here.

The response from McNair's attorney is a bitter one as noted by SBN's Holly Anderson:

If you have been following this case with a modicum of interest, it will not at all shock you to learn that McNair's attorney is adopting the hallowed HATERZ defense, first popularized in this case by former Trojans AD Mike Garrett. 

Lot of Bruins here and elsewhere will be amused at the plight of this Trojan. Although technically this matter was a separate issue infront of the NCAA appeals committee from matters related to USC's January appeal, in the big picture they are part of the same story line coming out of Pete Carroll's program.

This guy along with the rest of the Trojans from Carroll and Lane Kiffin era are not exactly sympathetic figures. But as a Bruin right now it is hard to get excited about all of this given the total mess which we have come to know as Dan Guerrero's embattled athletic department. Bruins have a golden opportunity to make their mark in Los Angeles and the west coast. If they do not take advantage of this opportunity, not only UCLA should be looking for a new football coach, the change at Morgan Center will have to come at the top.