John Blake. He didn't do it.

[JohnnyMack]

He is currently with OJ looking for the real killer.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/andy_staples/10/21/john.blake/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t11_a2

[stoops the eternal pimp]

he lubs dem kids though...

[badger]

I have no doubt that John Blake thinks that he is a good man... but I also have no doubt that Jim Tressel, Butch Davis and countless other coaches that violated NCAA rules perceive themselves as good men.

I have no doubt that he and his family have been through hell after being fired at his alma mater OU and then dragged through NCAA crap at UNC, and I can be sympathetic to that. However, if he is really worried about his character, he needs to just tell the truth and own up to what he did. If he violated NCAA rules, he should say "Yes." And if he violated them because he had the student athlete's best interests at heart, he should tell them that too, in hopes that the NCAA will change their rules for the betterment of their student-athletes.

Perhaps he steered players toward an agent that he had established rapport with because he knew that this agent would look out for the player and give him a good deal and good endorsements. He should tell the NCAA that. Tell them that establishing connections with agents is the only way to keep runners and crooked agents out of the locker room and in student-athlete ears during their amateur days if you're a coach or the NCAA.

Today, Kelvin Sampson can roll his eyes at the fact that the NCAA tried to sink him over texting and phone calls. Perhaps if John Blake stands up and say "your rules suck and here's how you can make them better" now, he will someday be able to roll his eyes that he was ever under investigation for ties to an agent.

Now... if he got agent kickbacks... that might be another story...

[ouwino]

i think there is a very slight chance that JB did not know he was doing anything wrong. he could have been lied to by unscrupulous agents by telling him what he was doing was ok with the rules. he may have believed it was ok. but, ignorance is no defense. he screwed up, got caught. now is paying

[SoonerMarkVA]

I'd have to think for a while to see if I could come up with something of less interest to me than whatever bullcrap John Blake's found himself in now. Maybe sorting driveway gravel by size. Maybe.

[badger]

Blake really should go the Kelvin Sampson route --- go to the pros for a few years, get away from the NCAA, and then maybe someday return to college, but not necessarily.

Someday, when he has re-established himself as a good coach at the pro level, he might be able to tell his side and have more credibility. Telling his side right now just looks like trying to save his livelihood, so he's less believable. If he had a good job in the NFL and didn't need the NCAA or a college job, perhaps people would believe him if he said he didn't do anything wrong and that he is a good person of high character.

[Flagstaffsooner]

2495

[Frozen Sooner]

Somehow I find it hard to believe that with the amount of NCAA compliance trainings these guys go to that John Blake didn't understand that steering a kid to an agent wasn't permissible. It's one of the biggies. It's not like accidentally saying a word too many when you bump into someone on campus, it's a big effing deal.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Soooo, Boo is upset how the Sooner faithful treated him in the firing, was that before or after you destroyed the recruiting files and the players information leaving the Stoops team with nothing upon arrival???

[8timechamps]

Somehow I find it hard to believe that with the amount of NCAA compliance trainings these guys go to that John Blake didn't understand that steering a kid to an agent wasn't permissible. It's one of the biggies. It's not like accidentally saying a word too many when you bump into someone on campus, it's a big effing deal.

Some of these guys can't see past the money. Wasn't he supposedly getting a kick-back on the guys the agent signed? I can't imagine that he's hard up for funds, so I can only assume it was greed.

I believe that Blake loves the kids he coaches, and he believes he's a good man, unfortunately, his actions say otherwise.

[nighttrain12]

12 wins in 3 seasons. That's all that matters about Boo Blake!

[badger]

What I learned from reading the article: Buy the home you can afford today, not the one you can afford after winning a football national championship at the University of Oklahoma :D

[bluedogok]

"It was like I had committed murder," Blake says.
Well....he pretty much came close to killing the OU football program. What type of reaction did he expect? He was around the program enough to know what it was like....he pleads ignorance even when he knows the truth.

[Soonerfan88]

When Blake left Nebraska for North Carolina, he still didn't consider himself on firm financial ground. "I didn't really feel like I was on my feet," he says. "I was still paycheck to paycheck." So, Blake says, he asked Wichard to help. "They were gifts for my son," Blake says.

So maybe OU should use this as a defense of the basketball program. Coach Taliaferro was just trying to help a kid get his transcript and get into college so he asked a friend to help. It wasn't even a gift, but a loan repaid by Gallon's mother. Never mind that it's against the rules for coaches to be involved in financial deals with either athletes or agents. It's all about helping those kids. Somehow, I don't see this sob story working with the NCAA.

Sorry, John I have no sympathy for you. Maybe some for your family, but none for you.

[OUHOMER]

No matter what the COI comes out with, blake is toast. No one will touch him

[OUstud]

Blake really should have gone the Kelvin Sampson route --- go to the pros for a few years, get away from the NCAA, and then maybe someday return to college, but not necessarily. Now, everyone knows that not only is he an awful coach, but a bad person too.

FIFY

[Partial Qualifier]

he lubs dem kids though...

No Quession

[sooneron]

What a victim, he is...

[soonerhubs]

Soooo, Boo is upset how the Sooner faithful treated him in the firing, was that before or after you destroyed the recruiting files and the players information leaving the Stoops team with nothing upon arrival???
Winner!

I love how he paints himself as a sacrificial lamb when he did that to the recruiting files.

[nighttrain12]

Never understood why the Sports Animal will mock (in good humor) just about every OU football coach including Stoops but not Boo Blake.

[soonerhubs]

Never understood why the Sports Animal will mock (in good humor) just about every OU football coach including Stoops but not Boo Blake.

Never understood why the Sports Animal is still running. ;)

[AlboSooner]

Careers come and go in football," said Blake in an exclusive interview with SI.com this summer. "But your character

Blake, both your career and your character have come and gone, for good.

[8timechamps]

Well....he pretty much came close to killing the OU football program. What type of reaction did he expect? He was around the program enough to know what it was like....he pleads ignorance even when he knows the truth.

The fact that he still doesn't understand why everyone was so upset, tells you all you need to know. Even as a player in the program, Blake fails to make the connection between the success of the program and the importance it is to many (whether right or wrong).

[cleller]

Been in the football world so long he can't see the forest for the trees

[PalmBeachSooner]

Never understood why the Sports Animal will mock (in good humor) just about every OU football coach including Stoops but not Boo Blake.

Where's the fun in that?

[oumartin]

Stoops still aint won a nc without blakes players.