Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez coached against Penn State while he was the head coach at Michigan from 2008 to 2010. On Tuesday at Pac-12 Media Day, he weighed in on the NCAA's sanctions against the school.
“You get hit with the scholarship reductions, you get hit with the loss of the bowls and, obviously, the monetary fine. It’s going to be tough for that school to recover," Rodriguez said. "But nothing is going to be nearly as tough as what those victims went through.”
The NCAA imposed several sanctions in the wake of the Freeh report, detailing the university’s inaction in the face of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse charges.
The NCAA fined Penn State $60 million, imposed a four-year bowl ban and cut scholarships from 85 to 65 for the 2014 through 2017 seasons. The impact on recruiting will be felt for years to come. On Monday, elite cornerback recruit Ross Douglas decommitted and switched to Michigan.
“As tough as the situation is for (Penn State), they’ll recover,” Rodriguez said. “It may take some time, but they have a great coaching staff. (New coach) Bill O’Brien will be a tremendous job. They have a terrific university, a great community. I have been there many times. I was there as a player, as an assistant coach and there as a head coach competing against them. They will be able to rally.
“Will it take some years? Probably. But at the same time I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned, and the lessons go beyond athletics. It’s more than an athletic issue, it’s a societal issue. Hopefully, everybody can learn from that and be better going forward.”
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