siouxfan512

Once again, its a message board. Just putting my thoughts out there, kind of sad that you had to scan through and link them all .... but no, I don't care enough to go research Title IX any further. Thanks for your interest though.

Why would I look it up, I just said I don’t care that much about it. How dare someone ask a question on a message board. Quit bein an a-hole.

You must have misinterpreted how much I actually care about it. But your smart a$s comment is appreciated.

I think he is saying it’s a bad situation regardless of what you do. Rock and a hard place …. Bad no matter what.

Yeah, I'm betting if Bubba could do it all over Otis wouldn't have come back after the grades issue. Hindsight is 20/20.

Agreed, I don't know how Title IX or the proceedings work. Thats why I had asked about it. I understand its not a media circus in the courts, but thanks.

fair enough

I'm not saying you have to discuss the specifics of Otis. I would think you could discuss your general approach as a coach though. Its not as though coaches have never commented on players or punishments in the past. Isn't this precisely why you have legal and PR departments?

Makes sense to not open yourself up to legal issues, but without clearing you name or involvement the stink will follow Bubba around, even if he did nothing. I also don't know what legal issues would arise from that. I don't believe there is a legal obligation to bench a player during an investigation. Had he played him after the outcome of the investigation, that would be different. So to me, it really comes down to, what did he know and what was he ok. As @iramurphy said, "Its none of our business" ..... though in today's world of social media and immediate public reaction (and overreaction), it doesn't really matter if it is our business or not. People for opinions based on limited information and run with it, and like it or not those opinions have the internet as a platform and can cause damage. If it were me, I'd want my name clear rather than letting rumors linger. Would something like this be so bad? If they can't say that honestly, then maybe there was some sketchy decision making going on? Our decisions with Otis and his playing time were based on the limited information we received. With the information available to us at the time, we were comfortable with Otis participating in all team activities. As more information was made available, the AD and myself adjusted our approach and as everyone is aware, Otis is no longer a part of the UND Football program. Due to the sensitivity of the matter, I cannot provide additional details, but can assure you that under no circumstances would a player be allowed to participate with this program if it was determined they had taken part in the types of acts described in this case. My only question on some of this, is how does this get handled by the University and a Title IX investigation, but not by the authorities?

I don't disagree with Dan here. This isn't Bison/UND rivalry crap. I said in a different post, If he or the University did nothing wrong, then there is nothing to hide. And maybe they did nothing wrong here. He could have been allowed to play, based on limited information, or behind closed doors conversations where it was determined he could play until the outcome of the investigation was complete. Get the AD and the Coach together with the PR department and figure out how to handle the situation. To me, ignoring it or staying completely silent on it, just makes you look worse, but maybe that's just me. I would think there is a middle ground between not saying anything and having a full blown press conference open to questions.

He doesn't have to give details, but I don't see any issue with making a statement that he never played Otis while he was aware of any sort of investigation or allegations (if true). If the University is going to leave him in a position to have his own rep tarnished, then he shouldn't care too much about the vulnerability of the University. I think there is a way of handling this without going too in depth and providing too many details. Just my opinion.

Precisely why he should hold a press conference or make a public statement. Not to clear the air on the whole situation or the school, but to keep his own name clean. If he did nothing wrong, he has nothing to hide. I know I wouldn't want my name mixed up with any of this mess. My assumption is that Bubba is being told to not talk about it and let the University handle it. That being said, I'd give the University a big old middle finger and make clear that I had no involvement in letting a kid play despite knowing what the issues and allegations were. I also give Bubba the benefit of the doubt here, but it is easy to be collateral damage if you don't look out for yourself as well.

I just remember when this gal and her bf even questioned us, we were more mad than anything. At that age I think I was pretty clueless about the long standing ramifications of those kinds of issues. And like I said before, my experience with that situation was extremely minor. There weren’t hard accusations of anything and I’m not going to go into the details of it all, but it doesn’t take much for someone to throw accusations around which is the scary part.

The more that comes out, I think it is just a good thing that we no longer have to worry about Otis from a fan standpoint. Could have had a tremendous college career, but chose to throw it all away after multiple opportunities. Hopefully his brother doesn't bring the same character flaws, and chooses his own path. Ready for the season to get going!

Grady still has some eligibility left, right?!?!?! Get the rumor mill churning!