Busted Bobcats
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Randy Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
"We think it?s not only fair, but pretty tough." OHIO UNIVERSITY COACH FRANK SOLICH, LEFT, ON HIS DISCIPLINE SYSTEM
ATHENS, Ohio ? When 18-year-old Chris Kraus was nabbed with a can of beer in 1998, Ohio University football coach Jim Grobe suspended the linebacker for one game. Last week, a 313-pound OU offensive lineman started a game two days after he was convicted of assaulting Kraus outside The Pub, an Athens bar managed by the former player.
A judge sentenced junior Paul Johnson, 22, of Vienna, W.Va., to 10 days in jail beginning Nov. 27 ? two days after the Bobcats? last regularseason game.
Coach Frank Solich gave Johnson the standard team punishment for first offenders: six days, including a Sunday, studying in the football office.
"Studying?" Kraus asked. "That?s not discipline." And Kraus is angry that Johnson apparently will play at home today against Bowling Green State University instead of sitting in jail.
Kraus and others wonder what is going on with the OU football program. Seventeen players have been arrested in Athens County in the past nine months, The Dispatch found, after only a smattering of arrests in recent years.
Not one player has missed a minute of game time because of misconduct ? drug abuse, alcohol offenses and assaults ? that led to misdemeanor convictions in Athens Municipal Court. Ten have been convicted, four cases are pending, and three cases were dismissed after the players completed a diversion program that involves counseling and community service. Solich, in his second year at OU after six seasons coaching powerhouse Nebraska, is displeased with the number of arrests but defends his discipline system.
"We think it?s not only fair, but pretty tough," he said.
A felony, weapons-charge or second offense brings the possibility of game suspensions or dismissal from the team, Solich said. Two players were kicked off the team last year.
Informed that Johnson also was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2003, Solich said he did not consider that a second strike because the offense occurred before he became coach.
The spike in player misconduct is set against an OU crackdown on student alcohol violations and Solich?s conviction for drunken driving late last year. The university?s get-tough policy says that repeated alcohol offenses could lead to student suspensions, and parents of underage students are being notified of arrests.
OU President Roderick McDavis would not comment about the football program. McDavis previously placed Solich on probation for his DUI conviction and ordered the coach to participate in campus alcohol-education efforts.
The chairman of the university?s board of trustees was stunned by the numbers.
"Not good news," said R. Gregory Browning, of Columbus. "I can promise you I will be following up on this immediately. It obviously raises concerns. We?ll make sure it?s dealt with in the right way."
Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt said he was not happy with the number of arrests but did not think further punishment was warranted.
In contrast to the 17 OU players charged in Athens Municipal Court since Jan. 1, four Ohio State University football players were charged in Franklin County Municipal Court during the same period.
OSU Coach Jim Tressel determines player punishment on a case-by-case basis and does not reveal his sanctions, said Steve Snapp, athletics department spokesman.
The OU football team includes 85 scholarship players and 40 walk-on players. The 17 arrested players account for nearly 14 percent of the roster.
A total of 1,127 students have been referred this year by police for potential punishment by OU campus judiciaries following arrests and other misconduct. That number represents about 5.6 percent of the 20,000 students on the Athens campus.
Douglas Bolon, a health-sciences professor and chairman of OU?s Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, promised a review of player conduct and discipline when the committee meets Oct. 16.
Solich regularly issued game suspensions to players convicted of crimes while he coached at Nebraska and removed at least two players from the team.
The coach said most of those players were suspended because they were convicted of second offenses or, in one case, hit a fan of an opposing team who came on the field after a game.
Kraus, night manager of The Pub, suffered head and other injuries on April 23 when Johnson and player Ervin Jackson knocked him to the ground and repeatedly punched him after they had been ejected from the bar, according to court records. Johnson also was accused of kicking Kraus in the head.
Both were convicted at a trial on Sept. 21 before Athens Municipal Court Judge William Grim. Jackson, 21, of Kiln, Miss., also was charged with assault and found guilty of the lesser offense of disorderly conduct.
Grim declined a request for an interview. The judge typically tries to schedule students? jail time during breaks or on weekends so they do not miss classes, city prosecutors said.
The Nov. 27 jail-reporting date for Johnson comes during OU?s break between Thanksgiving and New Year?s Day.
"The university, the athletic department is blowing this off like nothing, when I was being kicked in the head," Kraus said.
Kraus and three other Court Street bar managers and owners say they have contacted Solich and other OU officials since mid-2005 to complain about player misconduct in their businesses.
Solich said players have been forbidden to enter The Pub, where others also have found trouble. Two players, including one charged with punching a police horse, were arrested outside the bar on April 29. Another was charged May 6 with threatening to kill a bar employee.
Two other players were convicted of disorderly conduct for punching and kicking a man who apparently had an earlier altercation with a football player.
Solich stressed that players receive ongoing education about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse and that he and his staff members work hard to make them responsible students.
The team?s grade-point average last year, about 2.7, was the highest since 1997. And OU ranked third in the 12-team Mid-American Conference in maintaining players? academic eligibility and keeping them in school, Solich said.
"We think it?s not only fair, but pretty tough." OHIO UNIVERSITY COACH FRANK SOLICH, LEFT, ON HIS DISCIPLINE SYSTEM
