Debunking The Show-Cause Myth


I recently read an article detailing the 10 most misunderstood words in the English language.  The list contained words like infamous, historical, systematic, & alternate.  There were also some words I'm guilty of using incorrectly such as nauseous, precocious, & moot. Since the Bruce Pearl debate has really heated up lately, that article inspired me to write one of my own because never has a sports term been more misunderstood than the NCAA show-cause penalty.  After educating myself on what it actually means, I decided to debunk the myths surrounding this dreaded word.

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MYTH
The show-cause penalty is intended to destroy a coach's career & schools who hire a coach with one on his resume' will be highly scrutinized by the NCAA.  In other words, a show-cause is shorthand for a coach becoming unhireable in collegiate athletics.

REALITY
The intent of a show-cause is to keep a coach from fleeing the school receiving the sanctions to coach another program unscathed.  Without it, there is no incentive to keep coaches from running a dirty program because there would be no consequence to the coach's career.

 MYTH
No coach has ever gotten another coaching job after receiving a show-cause penalty.

REALITY
Of the 44 men's basketball coaches slapped with show-causes since 2000, over half of them have later found jobs coaching again.  Below are a few examples of men who've survived an NCAA show-cause:
  • Todd Bozeman received an 8 year show-cause while at Cal. He now is the head coach at Morgan State.
  • Steve Forbes received a 1 year show-cause while he was an assistant at Tennessee.  He then became a head coach at Northwest Florida State College before accepting an assistant coaching position at Wichita State. 
  • Jason Shay received a 1 year show-cause while serving under Pearl at Tennessee.  He then became an assistant under Forbes at NFSC before accepting a position at the University of North Dakota.
  • Rob Senderoff got a 3 year show-cause while working at Indiana as an assistant coach. He is currently Kent State's head coach.
  • Brent Bargen received a 4 year show-cause while at Long Beach State & is now the head coach at Chadron State.  
  • Tommy Wade received a 2 year show-cause while he was a South Alabama assistant coach.  He is now the Director of Player Development at Oklahoma State.
MYTH
The University of Alabama would never consider a coach who has received a show-cause.

REALITY
Anyone speaking in absolutes at this point is, to be blunt, an idiot.  This will be a business decision & Battle will be making a bold statement when he chooses whether to retain Grant or look elsewhere.  Hiring Kiffin should tell you the level of faith both Battle & Saban have in our compliance department.  And those who's retort to that is Kiffin never received a show-cause, still don't understand it's intent.  Never has a coach pissed off more superiors than Kiffin.  At the very least, he has proven to be a rogue coach who openly disrespected his league commissioner, his peers, his university, & The NCAA.  So did Kiffin receive a show-cause? No.  Is he seen in a better light than Pearl to those who matter? Hell no.  But Saban saw how he could be used to improve our football program & he hired him.  Saban also believes a great basketball atmosphere is also a tremendous benefit in football recruiting, one he no longer has.  When is the last time you've heard about Saban taking a high profile recruit to a hoops game?  If your answer is any time this season, you'd be wrong.

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Whether you are a small-time booster who writes a blog or a big-time BOT relative who posts on a message board, the simple fact is nobody knows definitively whether Grant will be fired or if Pearl would even be considered.  However, I am confident that the people who will be making those decisions will be far more educated on the term, show-cause, than many people in this fanbase.  And as a card carrying member of Team Pearl, I thank God for that....




Thanks for stopping by, y'all!!!  Roll Tide!!!  Roll Pearl!!!  Roll Webster's!!!


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