SI: How Gary Wichard Works (must read)
Gary used his contacts in the coaching community to help him get players. This has recently come into public view, as the NCAA and the state of North Carolina are investigating the Tar Heels football program and whether John Blake, a Carolina assistant coach since 2007, steered players to Gary and received money from him. It’s no secret in the agent business that some college coaches steer players to certain agents. I laughed when I heard Gary deny in the media that John ever worked with Pro Tect.
When I was with Gary, John worked hand in hand with us, and Gary called him his “partner.” John was the defensive line coach of the Dallas Cowboys when they won Super Bowls XXVIII and XXX, and the head coach at Oklahoma from ’96 through ’98. He was one of the best recruiters I’d ever seen. He was just electric, and I leveraged him to get clients whenever I could. In ’02 two of the biggest clients we got were due, in large part, to John. He went with Gary and me to meet with Fresno State defensive lineman Alan Harper, and Gary and I had John work out defensive end Kenyon Coleman from UCLA before his senior year. That was an NCAA violation, but it wasn’t like paying a kid. It was helping Kenyon become a better player.
This is also being discussed in our forums, here.
31 Responses to “SI: How Gary Wichard Works (must read)”
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Kaboom!
He also admits to having regularly paid College players…throughout his career! Merry Christmas, Ellaine Marshall!
Is this going to become part of an “everybody does it, we just got caught” defense from Carolina fans?
No, hopefully this will be “everybody is doing it so we need to send a message through a harsh penalty” for UNC-Cheat
^ Perhaps, but it does not really fit the “Butch had no way of knowing Blake’s reputation” defense.
I’ve never really understood the “everybody does it” defense. A lot of people speed. A lot of people smoke pot. Yet it’s still illegal to do both. And in either case, you can either get in a little bit of trouble or a whole lot of trouble depending on how far you take it.
Driving at 100+ through school zones in an 18-wheeler with a hydro grow lab in back? Not everyone does that. Nor does every college football program have an assistant head coach who is also an agent runner, while also operating a booster-fed slush fund to siphon to players, tutors writing papers for players, immoral waiver wire usage, and all of the other violations that are sure to be announced down the line…
Let’s see if we have this right, SO FAR…
Players getting gifts and trips from boosters and lying about it 3 times to the NCAA? – everybody does it, we just got caught
Tutors employed by the head coach writing papers for players? – everybody does it, we just got caught
Crack dealers hanging out at the facilities ‘advising’ players and giving them money? – everybody does it, we just got caught
Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator receiving payments from an agent while coaching your team? – everybody does it, we just got caught
Yep, you got caught.
More to come!
Excuse me sir, I think you dropped a name.
I never thought Marvin tweeting a Cheesecake Factory receipt would lead me to suspect that Mel Kiper is on the take. Did not see that one coming.
The SI article is very damning to ‘institutional control’ accross the board…alot of names/programs from just one agent being mentioned…is it the institutions fault?…is it the players fault?…is it the agents fault?…based on that article alone and assuming that it is the truth, the whole idea of players not being buttered potentially at any major fball program is suspect…plain and simple…
now does that make it ok?…i would say no…as for UNC does it give them cover?…absolutely not, simply because of blake being on the UNC payroll as a coach…does it scare the hell out of me for NCSU and any other program?…very much yes!…
it would appear that this whole agent – player – school relationship is going to come under a great deal of scrutiny in the months and years ahead…if not, then the NCAA and NFL is just completely delequent in their job in ‘trying’ to maintain an above board operation…however, ‘trying’ is the key work here…like most things this big and dynamic, its virtually impossible to ferret out people that will do whatever it takes to make a ‘deal’…the only thing that i believe could have a big impact would be possible jail time if caught, but not sure how you pull off that with regard to ‘free market’ principles…not to mention people will still take the risk and come up with ‘who knows what’ to get around the law…
i guess i should just be glad NCSU was not mentioned in that article and hope that our institution does a better job in keeping players out of these temptations/problems…
look, UNC hired this guy and they have violated almost every rule in the book. denial is their only defense, a defense that everybody watching can see straight through.
The sad part about all of this is that a huge number of college fans don’t care one bit…They just want their team to win and at any cost!
boom. roasted.
Could not believe that he dropped that many names and accusations…very interesting article
Good article just posted under opinion on Charlotte observer web site:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/10/12/1757426/unc-must-find-way-to-regain-control.html
Thank you Marvin for allowing this exposure to come out in the open. The wolfpack nation will always be grateful. This may really start to ball rolling to clean up college football. Glad we have tob as our current coach.
“Glad we have tob as our current coach.”
And Dr. Woodson and Debbie Yow!
my new favorite acronym is LOIC
LOIC
did I say LOIC?????
LOIC (lack of institutional control) LOIC MF!!!!!
LOIC LOIC LOIC LOIC LOIC ?????
I love it I love it I love it
DID I SAY “LOIC”
^^ PTI was fun today if you get a chance to check it out. The topic was UNC/Butch and the words LOIC were uttered by Tony/Wilbon.
“I don’t see how you can outrun this…” – TK
How it all started…
Thorp, Baddour, and Davis sat in a meeting and determined the best way to achieve greatness in football:
Lets just do what we do in our basketball program and we will eventually win. All the great players will want to come for the handouts, a degree, cars, clothes…and the list goes on…
LOIC MFs!!!
(lack of institutional control my friends)
How long until Josh Luchs winds up dead? Wow, that is quite a confession. Long, long read, but worth the time. It could make a much seamier sequel to Jerry Maguire.
Article confirms how much Blake was attached to Wichard and also leads one to believe how well known it was. Things keep getting crazier. UNC appealed to the NCAA to reinstate Quinn and Little, after they violated every rule imaginable and then lied on 3 different occassions to the ncaa. Dicky B does not have a clue and I am sure Davis is pushing him to have these players back. UNC dismisses them after the NCAA dq’s them. Truely unbelievable
Now I know why Viper, er…Kiper, kept pushing Clausen as his 2nd best QB in the draft and couldn’t understand how JC kept falling…Hmmmmm…..makes puuuuuuurrrrrrrfffeeeccctttt sense!!!!
Ravensinsider tweeted that the feds are looking in to the agent thing!!
“you can’t “restore” something that you have not established in the first place.”
How true those few words ring!