Part of that is just telling the truth.
You can’t be surprised when a player does something wrong when the lead dog is doing the same thing.
Some guys are going to get away with lying because winning gets in the way. You win, you stay. Petrino won, but Long thought Arkansas stood for something more.
My sense is Petrino’s worst sin in the eyes of his Arkansas superiors was his lying about the motorcycle accident he had with a woman about half his age now being identified as his mistress.
Dismiss the mistress part, as sordid as that seems. Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino survived what might have been a well-publicized one-night stand after he came out and admitted all the facts.
George O’Leary didn’t quite make it into his football office at Notre Dame a few years ago when it was discovered he altered his resume.
The same thing happened to Yale football coach Tom Williams this past year when he continually insisted he was a Rhodes Scholar candidate as a player, when he was not.
Those trinkets former OSU coach Jim Tressell allegedly knew about and let his players sell? That’s not what got him fired. Continuous lying about it did.
Of course, there are always good reasons to lie. It’s just, when you’re an authority figure in college, it’s probably best not to.
Contact this writer at mkatz @DaytonDailyNews.com or (937) 225-2157.
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