Notre Dame coach Mike Brey calls on schools to fire coaches who break NCAA rules

WASHINGTON — Notre Dame men’s basketball coach Mike Brey, who is president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ board of directors, on Wednesday challenged schools to be more be aggressive about firing coaches for cause when they violate NCAA or school rules.

"Why don’t AD’s and presidents drop the hammer?” Brey said while appearing as a panelist before a meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics here.

Brey acknowledged that the NABC needs to a better job overseeing its own membership. He also noted that schools may fear getting sued by coaches who face the termination of multi-million-dollar contracts with no further pay. But he said: “We need an explosion back. … There’s no hammer from the top of campus.”

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey watches his team play against Georgia Tech during the 2019 ACC tournament. (Photo: Jeremy Brevard, USA TODAY Sports)

Brey’s comments come against the backdrop of a college basketball corruption scandal that has resulted in federal criminal prosecutions and the dismissals of a handful of assistant coaches. But other than Rick Pitino – who is suing Louisville for the $40 million that remained on his contract – head coaches whose programs have been touched by the scandal have stayed employed.

LSU’s Will Wade has lost pay and bonus money, and both he and Arizona’s Sean Miller have agreed to adjustments of their contract terms in reaction to allegations surrounding their programs.

Wade was suspended by the school for initially refusing to cooperate with a university investigation and subsequently engaged the school in legal wrangling. He eventually was reinstated after the NCAA tournament when he met with university officials.

Brey said in an interview after his appearance: “I was voicing what I hear from our membership.”

He said NCAA enforcement director Jon Duncan has bluntly told the coaches association that the NCAA’s enforcement staff will “follow the evidence (from the corruption cases) where it leads.” In other words, it is still possible the NCAA will pursue infractions cases that almost certainly would cost coaches their jobs.

"But there’s not a lot of confidence by our fellow coaches," Brey said. "Our guys are like, 'Well, you know…'"

This particularly seems to be the case among coaches working for schools in one of the Power Five conferences, Brey indicated.

“I had a mid-major coach tell me yesterday … ‘Mike, if one of my assistants was led out of the office handcuffs, I don’t think I’d have my job.'“

“No question the NABC could make a stronger stand,” Brey said. “I think we have not maybe been as vocal about some of the things that have gone on. … But I’ll say: Doesn’t it start on the campuses? I feel that’s where the first strong stand has to start. It can’t always be thrown to the NCAA or, hey, how about you guys policing your own?”

“Our membership is watching all of this closely,” he added, meaning how both schools and the NCAA end up dealing the scandal. "I think there’s amazing pressure on the NCAA to do something on this and to make some real impact on this, and I’m confident in it. And I know I am totally in the minority, but I just think this time around it’s going to happen.”

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