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| Paul Finebaum |
One week ago, former Arkansas offensive coordinator Garrick McGee was hailed as a "home run hire" for UAB. But now the Blazers' new head football coach is in the uncomfortable position of having to explain his criminal record.
As an interview last Friday on the Paul Finebaum Radio Network showed, McGee has a hard time getting his story straight about brushes with the law that date from 1991 to 2007. In fact, McGee's account of a DUI arrest on Christmas Eve 2006 conflicts on several key points with published reports about the incident.
Why does McGee struggle to tell what would seem to be a fairly straightforward story? Why did UAB's highly paid PR executives allow the university's new coach to be so poorly prepared for an interview with one of the most high-profile sports talk-show hosts in the nation? Is McGee coming clean about what really happened on the night he was arrested for drunk driving?
You can decide for yourself by checking out the Finebaum interview at the video below.
As you watch, here is something that is worth keeping in mind. The No. 1 selling point for McGee as a head coach was that he worked under Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino, architect of perhaps the nation's top college offense.
But what did McGee actually learn under Petrino about the overall management of a college football program? What kind of program does Petrino tend to run?
A Sports Illustrated/CBS News report from March 2011 provides some troubling answers to that question. The six-month investigation showed that one in 14 players at major-college football programs has been in trouble with the law.
The University of Pittsburgh had the most football players with criminal records, according to the SI/CBS report. What two schools were tied for second? The University of Iowa and . . . the University of Arkansas.
Is Bob Petrino running a program filled with thugs at Arkansas? Substantial evidence suggests the answer might be yes. In his previous college stop, at the University of Louisville, Petrino did not leave that program in great shape. Steve Kragthorpe, who followed Petrino at U of L, said he inherited a program that won on the field but was riddled with academic and disciplinary problems. Kragthorpe had come from the University of Tulsa and was stunned by what he found at Louisville. From a March 2008 report at espn.com:
So when Kragthorpe left Tulsa to replace Bobby Petrino at Louisville before the 2007 season, he thought his renovation work was over. The Cardinals were coming off a 12-1 season in which they won the Big East championship and beat Wake Forest 24-13 in the Orange Bowl. Louisville returned 21 starters from that team, including quarterback Brian Brohm and myriad offensive weapons.
Who knew Louisville was actually in worse shape than Tulsa when Kragthorpe arrived?
"I was shocked," Kragthorpe said. "I've never seen anything like this."
Besieged by off-field and discipline problems, a Louisville team that was projected to finish in the top 10 in 2007 somehow limped to a 6-6 record. Kragthorpe dismissed as many as a dozen players he inherited from Petrino. In fact, Kragthorpe is still weeding out the root of what he believes caused last year's team to collapse. In February, starting cornerback Rod Council was kicked off the team after his arrest for allegedly robbing a gas station in his home state of North Carolina.
UAB has hired a coach with a criminal record, with a mentor who has a history of running rogue programs. What were President Carol Garrison and Brian Mackin thinking when they hired Garrick McGee? What were they thinking when they let him go unprepared on the Finebaum show?
Have a listen:
From my perspective, most traffic tickets & DUI with no injured party is really not that big of a deal if you pay your fines in a timely manner & comply with the sentence.
ReplyDeleteI was almost sideswiped by a drunk police officer in old Mountainboro, Alabama before the Boaz Police Department took over. In fact, Boaz PD wrote me a ticket for speeding just last week & I'm going to pay it because I actually did the violation & have much respect the Boaz PD.
Now, had the alcoholic Mountainboro Police Officer or Chief Lamont Tucker over at the Attalla Police Department written the ticket, I would have pulled out the old Criminal Procedure book & contested it.
Chief Tucker laughed at a young lady who had been badly bruised during an incident at the local Walmart on Black Friday. I hope her lawyer sues Walmart as well as the police department.
Attalla Police Officers like to talk on cell phones while driving and intentionally pull out in front of people as they leave the Wells Fargo Bank so they can write bogus tickets.
If the coach paid his fines without trying to play the system or get someone to do coverup for him, he's OK in my book. The problem lies with the leadership at UAB, especially Paul Bryant, Jr.
Your old boss Carol Garrison & my old boss James Hillman Griggs are just Bryant's Bitches. It's Bryant who is at the center of all these problems & it's Bryant who needs to be out on his ass and paying fines.
One speeding ticket: $144.00. The Freedom of Speech: PRICELESS
I'm not going away & Roger Alan Shuler is not going away.
So, Paul Bryant, Jr., James Hillman Griggs & Barnett Lawley can still
KISS MY BIG RED SOCIALIST ASS!
Rob:
ReplyDeleteAppears the coach paid his fine, etc. Still not sure, though, why he denied having been arrested for DUI, why he said it all had to do with a parking space, etc. Seems the matter was resolved properly under the law. Can't figure out why he can't get his story straight. UAB has PR people making six-figure salaries, and they can't prepare him better than that for an interview?
They just don't get it Roger. We're going to cost this Good Ol' Boy system lots of money until you get your job back & I get that law license. I'm only 37 years old. I can keep losing longer than they can keep winning :)
ReplyDeleteVery true Roger! I have 150k in unpaid loans from school & your house was sold at a bogus auction to satisfy a bogus judgment. We could have done a better job than that. We need to occupy UAB in the near future.
ReplyDeleteThere really does need to be an Occupy Law Street movement to go with Occupy Wall Street. Legal and corporate types have worked hand in hand to sully our democracy. Classic examples are the Bham firms of Bradley Arant, Haskell Slaughter, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be right in front of the Alabama State Bar on Saturday to protest the Immigration Law. You want to carpool & cover the event?
ReplyDeleteWe cost Etowah County lots of $$$ on December 3rd & this one is going to cost the State even more. They wanted it to be about the money. So it's going to be about the money, but there's going to be a big MINUS sign at the bottom of their balance sheet Ha Ha Ha! :)
Mr. Schnauzer:
ReplyDeleteThink the law firm of "Poyner Spruill" will defend Rod Council?
They have a consistent record in the defense of the most notorious criminals in North Carolina.
If there is money to made off the Council case, then yes, I would expect to see Poyner Spruill, or some outfit like them.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy Robby's post as much as yours Roger, but I do have a question and if he could just answer it for me I would appreciate it. I guess I am one of the few that think people who are here illegally are breaking the law and should have to go back to where they came from and come across the correct way.. I no more mind them here IF they are here legally. If you and I went to another country without proper papers God forbid what would happen to us. I thought if you were doing something illegal whether it be drugs, money laundering or here illegal you were breaking the law and that puts you in criminal status. Why is a lot of people so against the immigration law? I do not think one person would mind anyone from any country being here if they came the correct way. I will anxiously wait the answer.
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you both for great articles.
I can't speak for Rob, but my concern with the Alabama law is two=fold:
ReplyDelete(1) Immigration, under the law, has been a federal issue, not a matter for the states;
(2) The law allows an officer to detain someone based on a "reasonable suspicion" that they are an illegal immigrant.
Illegal immigration is a valid concerns, but we need to address it in a fashion that does not undermine our constitution and adheres to established legal principles.
must look at this for more for more detail
ReplyDelete