Jobs on line with Simmons
Mississippi State accepts big risk
He tried to rhetorically bob and weave, backing away from anything of substance, retreating to platitudes and at one point minimizing his role in the decision to allow recruit Jeffery Simmons to enroll at Mississippi State.
But finally, toward the end of his appearance Tuesday at the Southeastern Conference’s media days, Dan Mullen went on the record about the only thing that matters now. If Simmons, God forbid, has a violent episode at Mississippi State that puts a woman in danger, there is no doubt who should get the blame and whose jobs should be on the line.
“We’re all responsible,” Mullen said. “If that happens, (it’s) all of us, to be honest with you.”
That means Mullen, athletics director Scott Stricklin and school President Mark Keenum — they should all be gone, no questions asked, if their faith in Simmons turns out badly. That’s what Mississippi State is risking. Those are the stakes for everyone in accepting a five-star recruit who, fewer than four months ago, was videotaped punching a woman
more than a dozen times as she lay on the ground.
There is no in-between here. Not in 2016. Not in a post-Baylor world.
It doesn’t mean there’s no such thing as a second chance. It doesn’t mean that one unfortunate incident should necessarily change someone’s life forever. It doesn’t mean coaches and administrators are responsible for the conduct of their athletes 100% of the time.
But if a program knowingly brings a player on campus with a history of violent behavior and that player acts violently, there is no excuse. And for Mississippi State, which almost certainly would have discarded Simmons without a second thought had he been a three-star talent instead of an elite defensive end, this is the ultimate pass-fail test.
The risks here are clear. And Mississippi State’s administration, it seems, is comfortable enough assuming them. ‘A UNIVERSITY DECISION’ What Mississippi State people will tell you is they know Simmons beyond what’s on the ugly 30-second video, that it was an isolated, out-of-character incident. They’ll tell you he came from a difficult background in a poor, rural area and what he needs is the structure, counseling and support Mississippi State can provide. They’ll tell you that if Mississippi State decided not to enroll him, someone else in the SEC would.
Maybe they really have done their homework. Maybe they’ve talked themselves into something they want to believe because recruits like this don’t choose to play for Mississippi State all the time.
It was curious, though, that Mullen on Tuesday at first tried to distance himself from the process that allowed Simmons to remain with the program under certain conditions, including a one-game suspension that seems like a halfhearted attempt to assign a football punishment to a decision that looms much larger over the program.
“I wasn’t involved as much,” Mullen said. “It was a university decision, but I was just thrilled that we’re having Jeffery as part of our family coming in. As I said, I take a lot of pride as a coach on developing young men to be champions, not just on the field, off the field and every part of their life to be successful in whatever it is they do, and that’s not an easy process.” ‘WE TRY TO BE PARENTS’ Any attempt to separate Mullen from the most high-profile roster decision of his tenure is not acceptable.
It’s implicit to the recruiting process that the head coach chooses which players to pursue and has full authority to say “Thanks but no thanks” if a character question comes up.
Which is why it was important to ask Mullen the following question: If you recruit someone with a violent incident in his past, what level of responsibility goes to the coach if that player then turns a student into a victim?
His answer: “I think one of the things you have to do, in any time a situation like that occurs, you have to have a great investigation into what happened, into getting as many details from as many people as you possibly can, to make good decisions. And you — because you are responsible in a very high-profile position — you want to make sure that everybody in the university is involved. It’s not a football decision. It is a university decision that we’re all looking at making. And we want to go out there, and to do that we have to have as much information as possible.
“And in this situation, our university did a very, very thorough investigation into everything that happened within the situation there and came up with the conclusion that, you know, we felt that Jeffery deserved the opportunity to be part of our family. And that now we move forward in helping educate and develop a young man to become successful in his life.”
When pressed about whether he would be responsible if it turned out badly, Mullen finally relented.
“I’m responsible for all of the actions for every one of my players,” he said. “I’m responsible as a head coach. I can’t be with them all of the time. All I can do is be a parent.
“My wife and I try to be parents to every one of the kids in our program. Not an individual. Just every single one of them. We try to be parents. And I take a great deal of responsibility of all of our players and actions that they do, good and bad.”
If Mullen meant those words sincerely, there are only two outcomes from the Simmons situation. He will either exit college as a shining example for second chances, or Mullen should no longer coach Mississippi State.