Raining. A cloud over the first day of football practice.
Then comes the not so encouraging news for a key member of the University of Louisville staff that Aubrey Hill resigned Friday from the Florida program. UofL’s Clint Hurtt and Aubrey were assistant coaches together at Miami, which has been under intense scrutiny from NCAA investigators.
The turmoil stems from accusations by jailed Miami booster Nevin Shapiro who implicated Hurtt, Aubrey and dozens of former players in alleged recruiting violations over a decade. Shapiro, who was indicted in Ponzi scheme, even had documentation of his involvement, giving names, dates and dollar amounts. Turning on Miami when the school didn’t support him after getting busted.
The tribulation at Miami may have been one of the reasons Hurtt became available to Charlie Strong and Louisville. He would be named college football recruiter of the year by ESPN in 2011.
The NCAA is reportedly getting ready to announce severe penalties on the Miami program. Those penalties could possibly include “show cause” stipulations for former Miami coaches and assistants, prohibiting them from associating with high school recruits for a period of from three to five years, effectively hamstringing any school that employs them.
The Florida program likely got wind of upcoming penalties, allowing Aubrey to resign. If so, UofL must brace for the possible loss of Clint Hurtt. Unfortunately, his departure may be inevitable.
If he is tied to the cheating at Miami, Louisville will have to ask him to resign, because we cannotbe associated with the image od cheating in recruiting. I hope Coach Hurtt is clean,
I’m hoping that if the hammer does come down they still keep him on staff. It’ll suck not having him to recruit but he still is a great coach.