The hits just keep coming for Notre Dame football.
Not only is Notre Dame 4-7, but they were rocked by NCAA sanctions on Tuesday as the NCAA ordered one year probation, a $5,000 fine, and vacation of all wins from the 2012 and 2013 season.
This all stems from the Frozen Five case that led cornerback KeiVarae Russell, wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, linebacker Kendall Moore, defensive lineman Ishaq Williams, and safety Eiler Hardy to miss the entire 2014 season.
As Brian Kelly put it, it was “student-to-student cheating.” This wasn’t systematic cheating we’ve seen at other schools in the past. This case is no where near as bad as the one we saw at North Carolina a few years back, so the vacation of wins may seem a bit harsh. According to Kelly, sanctions like this are unprecedented when you consider the actual violation that was committed.
Kelly on the vacation of wins: "It’s never happened before in the history of the NCAA” … “It was clearly excessive."
— BlueandGold.com (@BGInews) November 22, 2016
Kelly said at his press conference on Tuesday that Notre Dame plans to appeal the vacation of wins. Nevertheless, this is not a good look for a program or it’s coach. Especially when you’re 4-7.
This probably won’t have any impact on Kelly’s status as the coach for next season. This violation is really minor when you look at the bare bones of it. It was simply one student helping other students cheat, and frankly that happens at every college in the country. Notre Dame just happened to get caught.
