Boise State Firing Athletic Director Amid NCAA Allegations

Boise State Community Laments The Rush Of Progress

SB Nation’s OBNUG asks, “When did Boise State outgrow one of its most legendary employees? And what would it take to go back to the way things were?”

I became a Boise State football fan for the football, not for the HR drama, so you’ll have to excuse me if stories like this make me break out in hives and pen open letters on my blog. The drama of hiring and firing and NCAA investigating is one aspect of college sports that I can do without.

And I thought I was doing without it by being a fan of Boise State football. People wear camo to games, for crying out loud. How much more grounded can you get than that? But silly me. It would seem you cannot escape The Machine when your team is as good as Boise State’s. As the Broncos have grown, so have the headlines. Now here we are turning 29-year-tenured employees into lame ducks and scrambling like mad to keep up with the Joneses (whom we never liked in the first place).

Chris Petersen, Other Boise State Faithful React To Gene Bleymaier's Firing

Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier is scheduled to be fired September 8 as the NCAA investigates infractions in several sports involving lodging for new student-athletes. Here's some reaction.

BSU football coach Chris Petersen:

"In my 10 years at Boise State Gene has been a tremendous supporter of not only our football program, but all the Bronco athletic teams and the entire University. I want to thank Gene for giving me an opportunity to become a head collegiate football coach."

Former BSU basketball player Matt Bauscher:

"Those are some big, big shoes to fill. He brought the program - the whole Boise State athletic program, every sport - he brought it up to a very high standard."

Paul J. Schneider, the radio voice of BSU for 35 years, on Bleymaier's memorble decision to give Boise State its distinctive blue turf:

"He'll be remembered for the blue turf, which was a stroke of genius and for all of the facilities that were built in his tenure. He took what basically was a Division II football program and turned it into a top-10 team program, though some felt it was at the expense of some other sports."

SB Nation Seattle:

The whole situation has turned into more of a pain for the school than it would have liked. All the turmoil and confusion over such a seemingly insignificant issue surely played a part in the departure of Bleymaier.

For more on Boise State, check out One Bronco Nation Under God.

An Ode To Gene Bleymaier, Inventor Of The Smurf Turf

Boise State AD Gene Bleymaier To Be Fired Sept. 8

Longtime Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier will be let go by university president Bob Kustra in the midst of an ongoing NCAA investigation into secondary and major infractions across football, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's track and field. Here's Kustra's statement following the decision:

I did not come to this decision lightly. After a careful management review and discussions about the future of the program, I determined that new leadership will be needed as we commit ourselves to the highest level of attention and enforcement of NCAA standards, and also continue to move Boise State athletics to the next level of success.

No incident in particular is cited as having sparked the firing, though an NCAA inquiry into the dreaded "lack of institutional control" tends to spook universities. The school's athletic department is accused of allowing impermissable housing, food and transportation among other allegations. Bleymaier's firing could mean that Boise State expects to be hit hard. Stay tuned.

Bleymaier has been Boise State's athletic director since 1982, presiding over everything from the football program's move to Division I to the installation of the famous blue turf. 

For fan reactions, check out the the SB Nation Broncos blog OBNUG.

Boise State Meets With NCAA Committee On Infractions

While the scandals in college football have recently been dominated by Southern California, Ohio State and West Virginia, the NCAA's proverbial Eye of Sauron‎ leaves no program ignored, and as such turned its stare to Idaho, where even Chris Petersen's Boise State Broncos cannot escape the Committee on Infractions. 

Boise State received and NCAA inquiry for a "lack of institutional control" in early May after 22 violations in three sports over a span of five years. On Friday, the Broncos' meeting with the NCAA Committee on Infractions came. 

The football violations being reviewed Friday were committed between 2005 and 2008. The program already is dealing with several self-imposed penalties, including fewer scholarships for the next two years and less practice time.

The sanctions are part of a broader penalty package put in place by university officials for violations that also involve men's and women's tennis, and track and field. 

Boise's football program already forfeited three scholarships and six preseason practices over the next two seasons. 

For actual Boise State athletics news, visit SB Nation's OBNUG.

Boise State NCAA Investigation Enters The Looking Glass

If the NCAA scandals surrounding USC, Ohio State, and Auburn were all cautionary tales of a lack of oversight regarding compliance and student-athletes, then we now have the polar opposite of that in the case of Boise State's tempest-in-a-teapot of a situation concerning their self-reported violations. 

Boise initially self-reported incoming student-athletes sleeping on the floors and couches of standing student-athletes in order to attend voluntary summer workouts to the NCAA concerning the 2005-2008 seasons. Boise coaches then worked out lodging ahead of time for athletes who wanted to participate in voluntary summer workouts the following year, and had the athletes pay full value for rent the following summer, believing they were in compliance with NCAA rules. 

And this is where saying too much to the NCAA will get you in trouble. The NCAA now says Boise violated the rules by having coaches contact the players improperly in arranging the summer workout lodging, and is therefore in violation by ways of an unfair competitive advantage Boise obtained through those workouts and prearranged lodging.

In summary: you can cooperate with the NCAA, and they will accuse you of violating a rule, or you can not cooperate, and be accused of violating a rule. Got it, guys. Thanks!

Jim Tressel Thinks This Is All Just So Unnecessary

Boise State Banking On TL;DR

Boise State Slumber Parties Constitute Major NCAA Violation, Somehow

Boise State Football To Forfeit Scholarships Over NCAA Investigation

The Boise State athletics department has put a fast turnaround on the recent NCAA inquiry that handed down a charge of "lack of institutional control" over minor violations on the part of the football team and track team, and major violations from the tennis program. It's a common practice for schools to self-impose penalties in advance of the NCAA actually handing down sanctions, in an effort for universities to control their own destinies, in part, and to get out in front of any looming PR battles. Also common: Ladling on the suffering so the Committee on Infractions won't even be tempted to punish one's program further, and here, the Broncos are aiming high.

What this means for our beautiful game: For just under $5000 worth of violations in the form of illegal housing (that in the form of football players shacking up with other football players over vacations so they could continue working out with the team), in addition to collecting repayment from players, the football Broncos will forfeit three scholarships and six preseason practices between the next two seasons. Thus is the scourge of couch-hopping banished from Boise. We hope you've all learned a very serious lesson here.

For actual Boise State athletics news, visit SB Nation's OBNUG.

Boise State Faces NCAA Inquiry, Institutional Control Allegations

There's really nothing more enjoyable in the offseason than a good hot mess of ridiculously overblown NCAA violations, is there? This May, with camps winding down and spring games dwindling, we turn to Boise State for entertainment, and they do not disappoint: The Broncos have been slapped with the dreaded "lack of institutional control" label for 22 violations in three sports over a span of five years (or, as CBS' Bryan Fischer quips, less than Ohio State averages in a single season).

The official university athletics website has the full text of the NCAA inquiry and the university's response, but just to get to the point as it pertains to football: The secondary violations involved summer housing being arranged for athletes so they could continue to participate in on-campus workouts with teammates, with the out-of-towners bunking in extra bedrooms and on couches, for a grand total of just under $80 (that's eighty dollars) worth of extra benefits for each of 63 players. No, for real, that's it. Amateur statuses, being endangered all over the place! Additional major violations on the part of the tennis program are what earns the university the institutional control smackdown, but parsing the statement from BSU president Bob Kustra, you get the feeling he's rolling his eyes a litle:

"We are deeply committed to following all NCAA rules and to ensuring that our athletic department works diligently so that our procedures reflect the highest standard," Kustra said. "I am disappointed that we face these allegations. It is unacceptable, and the athletic department staff understand and agree with my position."

Sure, it sounds like an apology, but seriously, Bob: We're disappointed, too. Just not in your football program.  University officials will meet NCAA lawmen in Indianapolis next month to plead their case; we suggest they all pack kazoos.

For more on Boise State's lawless tennis program and selfishly workout-hungry football players, visit SB Nation's OBNUG, where you will find Broncos fans understandably exasperated but in good humor.