“As Willie Lyles Talks, Chip Kelly losses some Credibility” – The Rebuttal

This article was published Friday, July 1^st and is filled with hypocrisy, rationalization and jumping to conclusions with a basic guilty verdict being placed on Chip Kelly and the University of Oregon football program.  Take it easy there big fella. Let’s take a step back and look at what Canzano had to say:

“Because what we have in Kelly is a guy with no prior experience as a head coach who took over the job while a pair of inexperienced athletic directors (Pat Killkenny and Mike Bellotti) were on watch. And you can't help but connect all of that and wonder if Oregon simply lost its way for a couple of years. 

Was the lack of experience in those key positions how the Ducks ended up here today? Was anyone at all paying attention? And if this Kelly thing blows up in the worst way, is it possible that Bellotti could end up back on the sideline at Autzen? 

All fair questions. And all of them will wait until after the NCAA sorts through the wreckage behind Lyles, and determines which rules were broken, and which were simply circumvented craftfully. 

I covered Jerry Tarkanian for three seasons, and encountered characters such as Lyles in droves. Tark knew the rules and lived comfortably in the gray areas. A wise newspaper editor, frustrated with Tarkanian's ability to slip the blame, announced in the newsroom, "We only go to print if it's a shot to the heart." 

That Yahoo report was a kill shot.” (http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2011/07/canzano_chip_kelly_loses_his_f.html)

            Whoa, those are some rather large assertions Mr. Canzano. Let’s take a complete look at what the allegations actually are, and what facts do exist in examining the NCAA investigation into Lyles and his relationship with the Ducks football program.

We all remember when the original Yahoo story broke, which was the first media organization to shine light on the $25,000 paid to Lyles and $3,745 paid to Baron Flenory of New Level Athletics. The original story stated, “If Lyles and Flenory aided in or were involved in any way in the recruitment of student athletes to Oregon, they would be classified as boosters by the NCAA, and any payment to them from the school would be considered a violation of Bylaw 13. Bylaw 13 prohibits boosters from directing a recruit to a school.” (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=cr-oregon030311)

            The original story was able to contact Flenory, who attempted to clear his name from the mess; “Flenory said he played no part in players either visiting or signing with the University of Oregon, and didn’t understand why the NCAA would have a problem with him.” Though the accusation was easy to make, due to the fact that he played football for Kelly when he was the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire, the NCAA has all but dismissed the claims placed on Flenory.

            However, the situation around Lyles is a tad more complicated. What we do know, is that Oregon paid Willie Lyles and his scouting company, ‘Complete Scouting Services’ in Houston $25,000. We know that Oregon did not attempt in any way to hide the payment, which is why it was so easy for reporters to find. What we don’t know, is what the money was for. Did Oregon pay Lyles for him to steer players such as Seastrunk and James to the Ducks? Did they pay him for the influence that he had over these kids? Or was the payment for his scouting services, in which he ‘retroactively’ sent hundreds of pages of documents to the school with information on recruits from 2009-2012 that came from the Texas, Louisiana area. That’s what the NCAA is currently trying to figure out.

            The more recent Yahoo article, published on July 1^st, in which Canzano is referring to, shined a deeper light into the issue because they were able to sit and talk with Lyles for hours on end. The article states, “Lyles insists Oregon did not make a direct request or payment to steer recruits to Eugene. However, he now says Oregon did not pay him for his work as a traditional scout, but for his influence with top recruits and their families and his ability to usher prospects through the signing and eligibility process.” (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ys-robinson_scout_details_deal_oregon_kelly_070111)

            At the heart of the issue, was Lyles’ relationship with Seastrunk and James and the ways he went beyond the role of a recruiting service to help them sign with the Ducks. Let’s take a look at what he actually did.

            During James senior year, he had yet to pass the standardized Math test required to graduate from high school in the state of Texas. Though he had passed all other standardized tests, James struggled with math. The idea? Lyles asserted he advised James to transfer a few miles across the border into Arkansas to graduate from Texarkana High School were James would not have to pass the math test. James did so, and was free to sign with the Ducks upon his graduation.

            Does anyone really believe this to be a crime? Here is a high school senior, a three-star rated football recruit being pursued at the time by TCU, Minnesota and Oregon who was not going to graduate. He would have not been able to attend college for at least another year, and likely would have been forgotten by many major football programs. Lyles helped him find a way to graduate, and what is the end result? This past season, on top of finishing 3^rd in the Heisman Trophy voting, winning the Doak Walker award for the nation’s top running back, earning First team all Pac-10 and an All-American honors; James also finished as the First Team All-Academic Pac-10 running back with a GPA above 3.2.

Ask yourself this, does James finishing on the All-Academic team mean he is a serious student, who takes great pride in his academic work? I think so. In my mind, this greatly nullifies that assertion that Lyles ‘broke the rules’ or did a ‘bad thing’ by getting James to graduate. He helped a kid, without a father figure, who otherwise probably would not be known; obtain a national name and most likely a future NFL career. Sure, this can easily be seen as an NCAA violation. But to what extent? Lyles did not help James transfer to Texarkana High with the idea that he would then go on to play at Oregon and it would result in a $25,000 pay check. He helped out a kid without a father figure who needed some guidance. And I am of the opinion that while it may be breaking a rule, there is no legit wrongdoing in this case.

Now, onto his relationship with Lache Seastrunk, who was widely considered one of the nation’s top running backs a year ago coming out of Temple, Texas. Entering his senior season Seastrunk met Lyles at a 7 on 7 summer tournament and the two hit it off. A little background info on Lache, his father was never in his life and his mother was constantly in legal trouble during his childhood, so he lived for long, extended periods of time with his grandparents. The controversy surrounding Lache is all based on his National Letter of Intent (NLI). The NLI rules state that an athlete under the age of 21 must have a legal guardian sign the letter, consenting to let their child attend that school.  In Lache’s case, his mom, Evelyn demanded her son stay in the south east and attend Louisiana State University (LSU).  The only problem being, Lache wanted to sign with Oregon.

Here’s what Lyles had to say about the situation, “Lache came to me and said his mother was threatening him, saying she wouldn’t sign his letter of intent unless he went to the school she told him to go to. He was worried about it because he wasn’t of age to sign the letter of intent himself. He wanted to find out how he could get his grandmother to sign the letter of intent instead of his mother, because his grandmother is the one that raised him in the first place.”
            So Lyles contacted Oregon, more specifically Josh Gibson the assistant director of football operations (who has recently been fired) and they contacted the NCAA about letting a grandparent to sign the letter. Seastrunk and his grandmother also personally contacted the NCAA NLI office, and in the letter, “Seastrunk conveys several personal issues, mentioning his mothers legal issues and states his mother shouldn’t be allowed to sign his letter of intent because, in part, ‘she is only worried about herself and what she might be able to get from me going to school or playing in the pros’.” Lache sent that letter with the help of Temple High School administrator Deanna Carter, and the NCAA agreed with his cause. With that, Lache was free to sign with Oregon.

Again let me ask you, do you see any wrongdoing in that scenario? Here is a kid, whose mother will not allow her son to attend the school of his choice, so Oregon and Lyles worked around that to help him out. I am of the opinion that the student athlete should be free to sign with whatever program he desires, which wasn’t going to happen in Lache’s case without the help of Josh Gibson and Lyles.

While you may be reading this and thinking, well you’re just a Duck fan who refuses to accept the fact that Oregon did anything wrong. I argue to the contrary. I am an Oregon fan, but when you take a look at the facts do you honestly think Oregon was in the wrong in this situation? Sure, paying Lyles $25,000 for his help in these situations is considered and NCAA violation. But the fact that Canzano claims that Kelly should step down, or Oregon is running a ‘shady’ program, just aren’t true. What we have here is a case of two high school athletes, who without the connection with Lyles and Oregon either would not have been able to go to college, or choose the college of their choice. So I am of the belief that Lyles relationship with Oregon was to the benefit of these two kids; and obviously to the benefit of Oregon and Lyles business.

So what will the end result be? In no way, shape or form are any of these allegations a ‘kill shot’ for Kelly or the Ducks. Will they be reprimanded? Of course they will. Will Kelly keep his job? Of course he will. Simply put, what we have here is a case of a major college program side stepping some NCAA rules in order to help out two young men in the process. Canzano, however, chooses to write an article with an anti-Oregon bias in order to get a few thousand more hits on his website. Instead of leaning towards sensationalism and rushing to judgments, Canzano should instead focus on facts in the future when he is writing his articles. He is out for a guilty verdict on Chip Kelly and the Ducks football program, and will put anything in print to attempt to achieve his goals.