Ohio to review policy after 17 football players arrested in 2006
Associated Press
ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio University will review its football team's policies after a newspaper reported that 17 players have been arrested this year on charges including drug abuse and assault, the chairman of the board of trustees said.
None of the players has missed game time, The Columbus Dispatch reported Saturday. Ten have been convicted of misdemeanors in Athens Municipal Court.
"Not good news," board chairman Greg Browning said when the newspaper told him about the arrests.
"I can promise you I will be following up on this immediately. It obviously raises concerns. We'll make sure it's dealt with in the right way."
Six days of studying in the football office is the standard punishment for first-time offenders. Coach Frank Solich said a felony, a weapons charge or a second offense could get a player suspended or kicked off the team. Two players were dismissed last year.
Solich defended his discipline system.
"We think it's not only fair, but pretty tough," he said.
Athletic director Kirby Hocutt said he was bothered by the number of arrests but didn't think further punishments were necessary.
University President Roderick McDavis wouldn't talk about the football program. He is at the helm of a new effort to curb underage and high-risk drinking at the university, which was sixth on the Princeton Review's most recent list of top party schools. Several of the 17 players were charged with alcohol-related offenses.
After Solich was convicted of drunken driving in November, McDavis put him on probation and required him to take part in alcohol education initiatives at the school. The coach pleaded no contest but later tried unsuccessfully to withdraw the plea.
Junior offensive lineman Paul Johnson, 22, was convicted Sept. 21 of assault after he and another player knocked down and beat a bar owner who had kicked them out, court records show. Athens Municipal Court Judge William Grim sentenced Johnson to 10 days in jail, which he'll start serving Nov. 27, after the regular season ends. Prosecutors said it's common for the judge to delay students' sentencing until school vacations so they don't miss class.
Former football player Chris Kraus said he was the victim of the assault. He has contacted university officials about players misbehaving in the bar he manages, The Pub.
"The university, the athletic department is blowing this off like nothing, when I was being kicked in the head," Kraus said. He said he was caught with beer as an 18-year-old football player in 1998 and suspended for a game by then-coach Jim Grobe.
Solich said he tells his players to stay out of The Pub. Two other players were arrested outside the bar in April, and in May a player was charged with threatening an employee.
Four Ohio State football players have been charged in Franklin County Municipal Court since Jan. 1. Coach Jim Tressel disciplines players on a case-by-case basis and won't talk about the penalties he issues, said Steve Snapp, an Ohio State spokesman.
Solich is in his second year at Ohio after six seasons at Nebraska, where he often suspended and sometimes dismissed convicted players. He said most of those players were found guilty of second offenses.
Associated Press
ATHENS, Ohio - Ohio University will review its football team's policies after a newspaper reported that 17 players have been arrested this year on charges including drug abuse and assault, the chairman of the board of trustees said.
None of the players has missed game time, The Columbus Dispatch reported Saturday. Ten have been convicted of misdemeanors in Athens Municipal Court.
"Not good news," board chairman Greg Browning said when the newspaper told him about the arrests.
"I can promise you I will be following up on this immediately. It obviously raises concerns. We'll make sure it's dealt with in the right way."
Six days of studying in the football office is the standard punishment for first-time offenders. Coach Frank Solich said a felony, a weapons charge or a second offense could get a player suspended or kicked off the team. Two players were dismissed last year.
Solich defended his discipline system.
"We think it's not only fair, but pretty tough," he said.
Athletic director Kirby Hocutt said he was bothered by the number of arrests but didn't think further punishments were necessary.
University President Roderick McDavis wouldn't talk about the football program. He is at the helm of a new effort to curb underage and high-risk drinking at the university, which was sixth on the Princeton Review's most recent list of top party schools. Several of the 17 players were charged with alcohol-related offenses.
After Solich was convicted of drunken driving in November, McDavis put him on probation and required him to take part in alcohol education initiatives at the school. The coach pleaded no contest but later tried unsuccessfully to withdraw the plea.
Junior offensive lineman Paul Johnson, 22, was convicted Sept. 21 of assault after he and another player knocked down and beat a bar owner who had kicked them out, court records show. Athens Municipal Court Judge William Grim sentenced Johnson to 10 days in jail, which he'll start serving Nov. 27, after the regular season ends. Prosecutors said it's common for the judge to delay students' sentencing until school vacations so they don't miss class.
Former football player Chris Kraus said he was the victim of the assault. He has contacted university officials about players misbehaving in the bar he manages, The Pub.
"The university, the athletic department is blowing this off like nothing, when I was being kicked in the head," Kraus said. He said he was caught with beer as an 18-year-old football player in 1998 and suspended for a game by then-coach Jim Grobe.
Solich said he tells his players to stay out of The Pub. Two other players were arrested outside the bar in April, and in May a player was charged with threatening an employee.
Four Ohio State football players have been charged in Franklin County Municipal Court since Jan. 1. Coach Jim Tressel disciplines players on a case-by-case basis and won't talk about the penalties he issues, said Steve Snapp, an Ohio State spokesman.
Solich is in his second year at Ohio after six seasons at Nebraska, where he often suspended and sometimes dismissed convicted players. He said most of those players were found guilty of second offenses.
