Last Wednesday, the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor’s Football program’s positive vibe following a 5-0 start, was quickly overshadowed. The NCAA had just released a report looking into the alleged violations by 70 year-old head coach Pete Fredenburg in 2016 and 2017. Of course, the school was already frustrated that they were in trouble with the NCAA, but they felt the consequences crossed the lines, especially for those who thought the whole thing had been taken care of.
The consequences proved to be more grave than anyone could have imagined. The NCAA ruled to vacate their 2016 National Championship victory, the first in program history, along with all of their wins from both the 2016 and 2017 seasons in which they went 29-1.
This whole deal stems from the fact that Fredenburg, or “Fred” as he’s known around campus, loaned a player his car for parts of both the 2016 and 2017 season, 18 months total according to the Associated Press. In addition to that, the player was given “impermissible transportation” while he was still a recruit. Fredenburg also loaned the car to a different player in 2017, but it broke down a short time later. Per NCAA rules, this violated coaching responsibility and impermissible benefits.
He has shown regret for his actions and says he was trying to be kind and show some compassion, not intentionally break NCAA rules.
“I have a passion to help youngsters,” he told reporters. “He desperately needed some help. I felt like I was okay with the interpretation of the rules. I had an old car in my driveway and loaned it to him.”
A big reason why UMHB believes they shouldn’t be subject to these consequences is because the school self-reported the infractions. By doing this, they imposed their own violations, suspending Fredenburg for 3 months prior to the 2018 season without pay as well as the first three games of that season in addition to a 2,500 dollar fine, enhanced compliance training and a two year probationary period.
Of course, the Crusaders have appealed to the NCAA Infractions Committee, hoping to not lose what they worked so hard for in both 2016 and 2017, when they reached the D3 National Championship game both seasons. Time will tell if the penalties will stand or be reduced. The good news for them is that this ruling will not have any effect on the Cru’s 2018 national title nor any future seasons.
To compare this to D1 football, it would be like Alabama’s national championship from 2017 being taken away as well as two years of their undefeated dynasty. Without a doubt, a lot is at stake for the program right now. They have been the “Alabama” in D3 football for over three seasons now, and worked hard to get to that level. To have it erased would be tragic, to say the least.
What many at the school and in the media are questioning is, Isn’t this a little strict for loaning a car to a kid? I mean, I understand you have to uphold NCAA bylaws, but do you have to take it this far? There are a lot of different ways I could go on this, but the ultimate question is the one I just proposed. What the committee is proposing is taking away everything the entire team worked for over the course of two seasons all because of a slight infraction in coaching responsibility and something involving two players. Maybe it’s just me, but could you see the NCAA taking away Clemson’s national title because Head Coach Dabo Swinney loaned him a car? It doesn’t seem possible or reasonable. To add to that, where did compassion and kindness go? Fredenburg didn’t buy the kid a car, he just loaned it to him. He recognized the need and went beyond his coaching responsibility to help someone out. Fredenburg is a strong christian, who lives out his faith on a daily basis, and an example of that is what he did here. Being bold in your faith means stepping out of the “norm” to show Christ’s love to someone in need.
I don’t know about you, but this seems like a bit much for the small infractions committed. I’m not saying there shouldn’t be any penalty, it was a violation of rules, but I don’t feel it needed to be taken to this level of consequence.
Ranked No. 1 in the country, all the team can do now is look forward and focus on the season ahead of them and their goal of bringing another national title home to Belton.
“Our program is focused on the season,” Fredenburg said on Cruathletics.com.”This group of outstanding student athletes and those who will join our program later have no reason to be concerned about our goals or the direction of our program. We remain focused on building character, developing quality student athletes, and winning championships.”
What do you think? Are the NCAA sanctions reasonable or do they cross the line? Let us know! 360 Sports enjoys getting our readers' opinions.
Note: Cover photo courtesy of Cruathletics.com
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