Lingering Questions for Northridge Pair

They wonder why they were made to be the bad guys.

What atrocity did they commit, they ask, to deserve such treatment?

Why the acrimony, the suspicions, the doubts?

As Craig Wall and Keith Borges prepare to return to coaching football at Cal State Northridge, the questions linger in their minds.

“There’s been a lot of injustices all around,” Borges said.

Wall and Borges became central characters in the school’s football turmoil last summer, when an internal investigation uncovered NCAA and institutional rules violations.

The probe started after Northridge administrators received an anonymous letter listing several infractions, some serious, others relatively mundane.

Even before the smoke cleared, Ron Ponciano was fired as coach, offensive coordinator Rob Phenicie was forced out and the blaming game began.

No one knew who wrote the incriminating letter and no one has taken credit for it, at least not publicly, but some people pointed fingers at Wall and Borges almost immediately.

The two disappeared from the football office. They didn’t return calls. They didn’t talk to reporters, like others in the program.

Their conduct, detractors noted, was peculiar.

But to Wall and Borges, who are now guardedly speaking, it was the only course to take.

“We [coaches] all signed a legal document endorsed by the institution,” said Borges, who coached running backs two seasons ago. “We were instructed not to communicate with the media and not to interact with each other.

“When the institution says not to do something, you don’t do it.”

The two maintain all they did was respond candidly to questions by investigators and later refused to divulge their statements. Borges said he called Ponciano “two or three times” during the investigation until receiving the gag order.

“I told the truth [to investigators] and I refused to share that information with [Ponciano],” Borges said. “I thought the most ethical thing for the program was to keep our mouths shut, and look what happened to us.”

Wall and Borges said the letter writer’s identity was, and is, irrelevant.

“Whoever wrote it deserves to remain anonymous,” Wall said. “I’ve been, to the best of my ability, compliant the whole time I’ve been at Northridge. I’m not perfect, but I’ve tried to go by the book.

“Integrity and honesty should in time speak for themselves.”

Because of perceived or real antagonism toward Wall and Borges in the football program, the school reassigned both to the physical education department, their salaries paid from the football budget.

Besides their teaching loads, the two taught classes assigned to other coaches, who then were freed to focus on football.

“They talk about Keith and I like we stole money or something,” Wall said. “We covered for some of those guys.”

They also hired a lawyer and filed a $6 million legal claim against the university in October, alleging they were victims of retaliation and demanding their former jobs.

Although the claim is still pending, Athletic Director Dick Dull offered Wall and Borges football positions in November and the two signed contracts this month. Wall and Borges have talked briefly to Coach Jeff Kearin and the three are meeting, separately, next week to discuss specific roles.

“We’re getting together to chat about how we’re going to handle them coming back,” Kearin said. “There’s an eagerness to get a staff in place to do recruiting and everything else.”

Those involved sound like Optimist Club members, putting positive spins on a difficult and uncomfortable situation and, on the surface, showing no discernible hostility.

For their part, Wall and Borges said all they want is to coach football and move forward.

“I’m 100% ready and prepared to work with Jeff Kearin and that staff,” Borges said. “I don’t want to perpetuate a bunch of negativity about the program. . . . I’m concerned there’ll be some hostility, but I don’t want to prejudge anything.”

Said Wall: “I’m not necessarily concerned about that. I have a good relationship with a lot of the young men on that team. . . . I’m going to be professional. I’m going to work with my [players].”

Neither knows what to expect. Coaching is a tight-knit fraternity that generally subscribes to the Three Musketeers motto of “One for all and all for one.” Those who ignore the code suffer the consequences.

“Other than spending more time with my kids,’ Wall said, “it’s been absolutely miserable.”