BYU Football: Improper Benefits Investigation Surrounds BYU

Well, it’s been quite the week for BYU fans. First there was the SEC/ACC scheduling news and constant speculation that BYU is on the fast track to becoming an irrelevant football program and then today news broke that BYU is investigating themselves for improper benefits given to both former and current players.
Now, I want to preface this article by clarifying that I do not have any inside knowledge or information about these allegations. I know the rumors and the different things floating around the internet, but I don’t know any concrete truth. I want to talk more about the things I do and don’t know.

Things I don’t know:

1. I don’t know who was involved

Okay, that’s not entirely true. We know that somehow Duane Busby, former Director of Football Operations, was somehow involved and is the focal point of the investigation. I don’t know if Bronco Mendenhall was involved. I don’t know if Cody Hoffman or Kyle Van Noy were involved. I don’t know if Taysom Hill was/is involved. I don’t know if LaVell Edwards and Gary Crowton were involved. The one thing I do know is that somehow, Busby was involved in these allegations.

2. I don’t know what improper benefits were given

Over the course of the last few hours, I’ve heard everything from free meals, free housing, free vacations, cash and a place for an “Honor Code free lifestyle” was provided by Busby to players. I don’t know if that is or is not true. There are enough rumors from people that are generally credible sources to assume that those rumors are true, but we I don’t know. I’m not saying these benefits were not given, but I’m not saying that they weren’t given either. I simply don’t know.

3. I don’t know what kind of proof ties existing coaches or players to these allegations

I’ve seen a number of people speculate that because Busby was Mendenhall’s right hand man that he must have known this was going on and is therefore associated with these allegations. Again, that might be true, but I don’t know that. I have no idea what kind of proof there is that can show without a doubt that Bronco signed off on all of Busby’s alleged shenanigans. If we’re talking about cash benefits that were received, how do you prove that actually happened? Johnny Manziel was caught all but red-handed that he received cash for autographs, but no proof could be found. I am 100% positive that Manziel received benefits, but without hard proof, no severe suspension was necessary.

What kind of hard proof is there that Busby did what people are saying he did? What kind of hard proof is there that other members of the Athletic Department knew about it? If Busby gave cash money to player X under the table, how can it be proved that Bronco Mendenhall signed off on that?

4. I don’t know what the punishments will be if these allegations are true

Most schools across the country are involved with some sort of benefit scandal at some point. BYU, however, has not been involved with something like this up to this point. It is understandably terrifying for BYU fans that have always thought their program was doing things the right way to feel like this is the end of the world. The fact is, however, that this is very normal in college football. No, that doesn’t make it right, but it also instills hope that even if the allegations are true that BYU will walk away with minimal punishment.

Frankly, I’m not worried about the NCAA. I think that the NCAA will view whatever sanctions as relatively minor. There is a lot of precedence out there that has been set that would help BYU negotiate a smaller punishment. We’re not looking at Jerry Sandusky stuff here. Even if there were (Again, I don’t know if there were or not) parties of Honor Code free living that were organized, that doesn’t concern the NCAA. The potential Honor Code violations that are rumored have nothing to do with the NCAA.

I’m much more worried about a knee-jerk reaction from LDS Church leadership than I am about the NCAA. In theory, they could pull the plug on the sports program if the publicity is as bad as it seems like it could be. I don’t think they will (they didn’t during the rape case under Gary Crowton) but it is possible.

5. I don’t know how this is going to play out

I wish I could provide some inside information as to what was going to happen, but there just aren’t enough ‘knowns’ available right now. I don’t doubt that some of the alleged things actually happened, but I do doubt how serious they are in the eyes of the NCAA and how much proof is available to those investigating the situations. I don’t know who was involved, I don’t know how much of a role each person played and I don’t know how BYU will react to this. It’s possible that there are some hard sanctions levied and that the program is crippled for years. It’s also possible that nothing beyond the resignation of Busby comes from this. I don’t want to speculate on the possibilities too much because there is so much that we don’t know.

What is happening sucks. There is no way around it. It sucks that BYU is involved in something like this in any way. It sucks that Duane Busby, who by all accounts is a good man and was good for BYU football, is the one name that has surfaced and that his reputation is getting a black eye like this. It sucks that BYU fans, who have done nothing but cheer for their team through thick and thin, are the subject to this and the possibilities. Even though it sucks, there is still a lot of reason to hope that things turn out alright for the Cougars. For me, most of that hope stems from the fact there are so many things that I don’t know about this situation.