Kearin Wrestles With Distraction of Investigation

As Jeff Kearin strives to instill order as interim football coach at Cal State Northridge, uncertainty lingers.

More than two months have passed since an internal investigation of the Matador program was launched to address numerous alleged NCAA violations. The inquiry led to the firing of Coach Ron Ponciano and the forced resignation of top assistant Rob Phenicie.

Yet, the university still has not released the findings of its inquiry and no release date has been set.

The report, expected to substantiate charges against Ponciano and the program, was supposed to be completed within the last two weeks. However, the probe continued this week as an NCAA investigator visited campus to question coaches and players.

Kearin, 39, a former assistant to Ponciano, was hired July 22 in a move applauded by players and supporters because of Kearin’s popularity and background.

“He’s the only person that could have held this thing together,” assistant Aaron Flowers said.

But two weeks into the job, Kearin has spent about as much time meeting with administrators as he has with his assistants.

Kearin, who left Northridge after last season to become an assistant at Nevada Las Vegas, has signed a confidentiality agreement with the NCAA. So have other coaches, he said.

But the subject matter, Kearin said, has a familiar ring.

Allegations against Ponciano are believed to include improperly prepared travel receipts, illegal purchase of an airline ticket for a recruit and providing players with money.

“It’s all nothing new from what they’ve been investigating,” Kearin said Wednesday. “A lot of what they’ve asked me [pertained] to after I left. It sounded to me like this could go on for a long time. They talked about interviewing more people.”

An NCAA spokesman declined comment on the investigation, other than to acknowledge that the matter might not end with the release of the report. The NCAA has a variety of options, including launching its own investigation.

“All I can say is that the NCAA is awaiting the report and then we will decide,” said Tom Hosty, an NCAA enforcement officer overseeing the Northridge matter. “The enforcement staff will review the report and make decisions then. The staff can accept the report, they can request further inquiry, they can conduct further inquiry. But we have to be satisfied with it. We have to reach a comfort level about it.”

All of which does not bode well for a program desperate to put the messy episode in the past. Practice is scheduled to begin Wednesday and the season opener against Western Oregon is only four weeks away.

Kearin, a Matador assistant the last four years, said he supports Ponciano, but he also supports “moving on.”

“The hardest part for me is that I’m friends with Ron and Rob,” Kearin said. “Ron and I go back and I’m Rob’s daughter’s godfather. I have not talked to Ron. He is obviously, and probably, justifiably, very angry at the aspect of this whole thing.

“I stand by Ron to this very day as to how he acted as an assistant and a head coach and I don’t believe he did anything [to warrant being fired]. But until I see the report, I don’t know. It wouldn’t be fair to either side. I want to stay middle of the road.”

Meanwhile, there’s work to be done. Countless duties and details, ordinarily resolved during the summer months, have gone unattended. The coaching staff, which is minus two assistants, is playing catch-up.

Last month, coaches at the Big Sky Conference meetings in Park City, Utah, tabbed the Matadors to finish eighth in the nine-team conference. Northridge finished tied for second last season and has several key players returning, in addition to an exceptional recruiting class.

“We’d like to be talking football right about now, but we’re being pulled in 10 different ways daily,” said Flowers, who coaches quarterbacks. “Equipment, budget, travel. . . . even little things like coaches shoes, which we need to go through [Kearin] for. That stuff should have been in place in June.

“It’s a terrible situation he’s been brought into. The only thing that will make it better is when we start getting on the field every day.”

Kearin is in the process of finding replacements for assistants Keith Borges and Craig Wall, who will be reassigned by the university. Both are on vacation.

Kearin said he left a message for Wall that was not returned. Borges reportedly informed Athletic Director Dick Dull that he did not want to return.

The investigation was launched after an anonymous letter was received by the athletic department in May alleging numerous violations. The origin of the letter supposedly is unknown. But sources say dissension among the coaching staff festered last season after an assistant was passed over for a promotion that went to Flowers.

Kearin declined to speculate on the situation but acknowledged that Borges and Wall have become “unpopular” among coaches and players.

“There is all this speculation on who wrote the letter, but there is no proof that anyone wrote that letter, and the relevance of it, at this point, is probably minor,” Kearin said. “However, the team believes certain things. Based on rumors and innuendo, certainly there is some resentment. [The team] would be just as happy not to have [Borges and Wall] here.

“I told [the players] what’s gone on is bad. But let’s keep our eye on the ball, stay focused and try and win this conference. My whole goal is to make sure the kids are kept up to speed, so they know what’s going on, and they’re not surprised by newspaper stuff and are distracted as little as possible.

“The players attitude is, ‘Let’s get someone in the driver’s seat and let’s get going.’ ”