NCAA hammer doesn’t nail it

Let’s be clear: The NCAA on Monday hit Penn State football with five tons of grid iron.

NCAA President Mark Emmert was given extraordinary power to use Wild West justice in the most heinous of circumstances.

Emmert correctly called the child sex abuse case that led to former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky’s conviction “an unprecedented, painful chapter in the history of college athletics.”

Penn State’s football program, as I suggested in November after the scandal broke, is probably doomed for a decade.

“We WERE Penn State.”

The litany of penalties Czar Emmert issued against Penn State includes a $60-million fine, five years’ probation, a four-year bowl ban and the loss of scholarships. Recruits and players committed to the program will be able to walk away without penalty.

Penn State will vacate 111 football wins dating to 1998, which effectively undercuts what was the legacy of former coach Joe Paterno.

It sounds harsh, punitive and corrective.

Emmert assured that this was not a “Pandora’s box” in which the NCAA would now routinely intervene in criminal cases in which no actual NCAA rules were violated.

Yet, the NCAA set itself up for years to come by allowing the Penn State case to be compared to all others -- which should never have happened.

Nothing will ever compare to what Sandusky did at Penn State.

Smart folks are arguing the NCAA had no jurisdiction in this case.

“I don’t know that it is absolutely clear on what basis this becomes an NCAA issue,” first-year Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the former athletic director at Stanford, said Monday. “Having said that, there are certainly elements of our constitution and bylaws that go right to the heart of ethics. . . .”

The Paterno family, which needs to quit putting out statements and start dealing with some harsh realities, said Emmert’s decision without a thorough examination was “an abdication of their responsibilities” and “a breach of their fiduciary duties.”

The Michael L. Buckner Law Firm, which represents schools standing before the NCAA infractions committee, issued a Monday statement that read in part, “The NCAA’s actions, no matter how noble and justified to address the egregious behavior in the Penn State case, have charted an unprecedented course of action and created a slippery slope . . .”

If the NCAA was going to get involved, though, should it have not used its entire arsenal of options?

In fact, the NCAA spared Penn State, the worst lack-of-institutional-control offender of all time, the most crushing penalties.

It did not invoke the so-called “death penalty” and order the football program closed for at least a year -- could you imagine the Big Ten scheduling conflicts?

It also did not ban Penn State from television appearances because, well, that’s way too much TV money to deprive next week’s opponent.

You might reasonably ask: How could the most egregious acts in collegiate history not lead to the most severe penalties?

Emmert said the suspension of football would “bring significant unintended harm to many who had nothing to do with this case.”

As if that never happens?

Matt Barkley had nothing to do with USC’s probation yet has one Emerald Bowl ring to show for his three years at the school.

The NCAA’s problem here is it already set precedent.

In 1987, it banned Southern Methodist for one season for violations that pale in comparison with what happened at Penn State.

SMU players took money from boosters, giving us the classic take-away phrase, “We had a payroll to meet.”

Emmert’s edict allows Penn State sanctions to be unreasonably compared to garden-variety NCAA skulduggery.

People at USC are left to think: “So what Penn State did was only twice as bad as Reggie Bush’s parents living rent-free in a condo?”

USC is in the midst of NCAA probation that included a two-year bowl ban and loss of 30 scholarships.

Penn State will be banned from bowls for the next four years and lose at least 10 scholarships a year during that stretch.

That burns like 10 hornet stingers, but there is no comparing the two cases. Yet, people can now do it.

Miami is under NCAA investigation for serious football-related accusations, but the Hurricanes can rest easy knowing that no matter what happens, they’re still going to be on TV!

By not going all out against Penn State, Emmert may have compromised future cases that come before the infractions committee.

He did take bold action. He also obliterated due process.

There was incredible public pressure for Emmert to do something and do it fast.

As you know, it can take the NCAA years to determine whether a nose guard putting cream cheese on a bagel constitutes a rules violation.

Had this been a normal case, under normal violation parameters, the penalties issued against Penn State would have risen to their proper height.

But this wasn’t a normal case. So if the NCAA was going to get involved -- and that’s a big “if” -- it should have unleashed all of its available wrath and fury.

Emmert talked tough, and the NCAA hit hard.

This case, though, was unprecedented. It should have left no one comparing it to a running back’s parents getting free rent.

The NCAA did what it thought it had to do with Penn State, deferring the ramifications to a future date.

Now, back to Page 623 in the infraction committee’s summary deposition case: “Willie Lyles vs. the University of Oregon . . .”

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chris.dufresne@latimes.com

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BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX

WINNINGEST COACHES

Joe Paterno won more games -- 409 -- than any other major-college football coach. But the NCAA on Monday announced Penn State would vacate 111 of those victories -- the ones after 1998, when, an investigation found, he first knew of allegations that Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused children. Here’s the updated list of major-college football’s winningest coaches:

*--* COACH LAST SCHOOL RECORD WIN% BOBBY BOWDEN Florida State 377-129-4 743 PAUL “BEAR” BRYANT Alabama 323-85-17 780 GLENN “POP” WARNER Temple 319-106-32 733 AMOS ALONZO STAGG Pacific 314-199-35 605 JOE PATERNO* Penn State 298-136-3 685 LaVELL EDWARDS Brigham Young 257-101-3 716 TOM OSBORNE Nebraska 255-49-3 836 FRANK BEAMER** Virginia Tech 251-121-4 673 *--*

* Paterno ranks 12th among coaches in all NCAA divisions; **-active

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PENALTIES

These are the sanctions imposed on Penn State by the NCAA and Big Ten Conference:

$60-million fine

To be paid over a five-year period, this is equal to about a year’s gross revenue from the football program. The money will go to an endowment for “programs preventing child sexual abuse and/or assisting the victims of child sexual abuse.” Penn State is not allowed to cut sports programs or scholarships to pay the penalty.

Postseason ban

Penn State can’t play in the Big Ten Conference championship game, or any bowl or playoff game, until the 2016 season.

Loss of scholarships

Penn State can sign only 15 recruits a year from 2013-16. Most teams can sign 25. From 2014-17, the football team can have only 65 players on scholarship -- 20 fewer than the limit.

No-penalty transfers

Penn State football players are immediately eligible to transfer without having to sit out a year, and players who choose to stay at Penn State without competing in football may keep their scholarships as long as they maintain academic requirements.

Loss of bowl revenue

Penn State’s cut of Big Ten bowl revenue -- estimated at about $13 million over four years -- will be donated to charities in Big Ten communities “dedicated to the protection of children.”

Vacated wins

Penn State vacates its 112 football victories -- 111 by the late Joe Paterno -- from 1998-2011. That means Paterno is no longer the game’s winningest major-college coach. Ironically, Penn State and Paterno are still credited with 290 wins enjoyed while disgraced former assistant Jerry Sandusky was part of the football staff. The vacated results don’t count as losses for Penn State or wins for the opponent.

Consent decree

Penn State has agreed to adopt all the recommendations in the Freeh Report, which was written after an independent examination of the circumstances surrounding the Sandusky scandal. Among them, Penn State will:

* Hire an independent monitor for its athletic department who will report to the NCAA, the Big Ten and the university’s board of trustees.

* Appoint a compliance officer to lead a panel of faculty and senior administrators that will oversee ethics and legal matters.

* Create a hot line for anonymous questions or disclosure of issues regarding athletic department and NCAA issues.

* Provide annual training on “ethics, civility, standards of conduct and reporting of violations.”

Note: The NCAA also said it may impose additional penalties on individuals after the conclusion of criminal proceedings. Former vice president Gary Schultz and suspended Athletic Director Tim Curley are charged with perjury and failure to report suspected child abuse.

-- Staff and wire reports

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QUOTED

“These events should serve as a call to every single school and athletics department to take an honest look at its campus environment and eradicate the ‘sports are king’ mindset that can so dramatically cloud the judgment of educators.”

Mark Emmert, NCAA president

“Not only does the NCAA have the authority to act in this case, we also have the responsibility to say that such egregious behavior is not only against our bylaws and constitution, but also against our value system and basic human decency.”

Ed Ray, NCAA executive committee chairman and president of Oregon State

“We are deeply disappointed that some of our leaders could have turned a blind eye to such abuse, and agree that the culture at Penn State must change.”

David Joyner, Penn State’s acting athletic director

“The sanctions announced by the NCAA today defame the legacy and contributions of a great coach and educator without any input from our family or those who knew him best. ? Punishing past, present and future students of the University because of Sandusky’s crimes does not serve justice. This is not a fair or thoughtful action; it is a panicked response to the public’s understandable revulsion at what Sandusky did.”

Paterno family statement

“You knew it was coming, but it was hard to hear.”

Matt Bray, Penn State freshman

“I knew when I accepted the position that there would be tough times ahead. But I am committed for the long term to Penn State and our student athletes.”

Bill O’Brien, Penn State football coach

“We must create a culture in which people are not afraid to speak up, management is not compartmentalized, all are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical standards, and the operating philosophy is open, collegial, and collaborative.”

Rodney Erickson, Penn State president

“I do have a strong sense that many of the ingredients of success are still at Penn State and will be there in future years”

Jim Delany, Big Ten Conference commissioner

“So sad you do 1,000 things right and you make one bad decision sometimes in a matter of seconds and lifetime of good is eviscerated.”

Lewis Katz, former owner of the New Jersey Nets and a major donor to Penn State

-- From Wire Reports