Rutgers suspends coach Kyle Flood three games, fines him $50000

Flood was suspended three games on Monday and fined $50,000, a penalty handed out after a four-week-long school investigation into his impermissible contact with a faculty member regarding a student’s grade revealed some explosive details. The athletic department’s academic advisers directly involved in the case said they had advised Flood against contacting the professor – and they ultimately blew the whistle.

The investigation also concluded: “Although the meeting with Coach Flood was low key and collegial, and Coach Flood’s words at the meeting were not intimidating, his position as Head Coach and as an important person for the University, did have an intimidating effect”.

According to the letter, Rutgers has alerted the NCAA and is investigating whether any NCAA rules were broken.

In addition to a host of Rutgers football players getting in trouble off the field, the university had been looking into possible rules violations.

Along with being a regional rival of Syracuse, Rutgers’ success, or lack thereof, impacts Syracuse heavily because both school compete fiercely for New Jersey recruits.

Any contact with a professor concerning a player’s academics should come from an academic support member, so any communication from a coach runs a risk.

After being told he can not have contact with professors about student-athletes, Flood told the advisor, “This conversation stays between you and me”.

Barnwell is among six players dismissed from the team in recent weeks following a string of arrests.

Those incidents account for the other two investigations.Most recently, the program’s brightest star, Leonte Carroo, was indefinitely suspended from the program. I met with coach Flood (on Wednesday) afternoon and informed him of the suspension and the fine, and he has accepted responsibility for his actions and my discipline. Norries Wilson will serve as interim head coach during Flood’s suspension.

Rutgers released the full investigative report, which includes a transcript of an August 3 call between Flood and the academic advising staff member.

As a result of the meeting, the faculty member agreed to review an additional paper “as partial satisfaction for the requirements of a course the student had already completed”. Three former players also were arrested. Rutgers coach Kyle Flood wanted to see if a grade could be changed for cornerback Nadir Barnwell.

In the original email from Flood to the professor, who was unnamed in the report, Flood wrote: “I am sending it from my personal email to your personal email to ensure there will be no public vetting of the correspondence”.

The suspension means Flood will miss the Scarlet Knights’ Big Ten opener against Penn State on Saturday, a home game against Kansas on September 26, and an October 10 home game against conference power Michigan State.

“At Rutgers, we hold our student-athletes to high academic standards befitting a great university”.