Between talking about record-breaking offensive performances and defensive adjustments after Saturday night’s 56-17 victory against UAB, LSU coach Les Miles fielded questions about alleged improprieties that occurred during his time at Oklahoma State.
The questions were vague, and the answers Miles gave about the Sports Illustrated report that will be released today and throughout the week were even more so.
From what has been released, the story could be quite damning for Oklahoma State. According to multiple media outlets, allegations range from paying players for performance to hostesses in the Orange Pride program providing sex to recruits.
It’s serious stuff, but I think we all need to wait until the report comes out to see if there is any fire to go with all the smoke.
If these preliminary reports prove true, this could be the biggest allegation of improper benefits to hit college sport since the Nevin Shapiro scandal at Miami in 2011. Everything indicates this story could be that kind of juicy, but it is prudent to wait until the actual report is published before jumping to any conclusion.
It is equally easy and dangerous to take vague allegations and run with them. But it’s premature to assume the sky is about to fall in Stillwater with some debris reaching as far as Miles’ desk here in Baton Rouge.
We can’t figure out how bad things are for the Oklahoma State program until we know exactly what violations are in the report, and more importantly, who the sources are making these allegations to SI.
For this report to have any real teeth, the source would have to be an insider with in-depth knowledge of the program. It would have to be a current or former coach or athletic department employee who decided to blow the whistle.
Until the sources are revealed, the safest course of action is to treat the reports like rumors, and you don’t have to look back far to see the danger of reporting on rumors.
Last spring, an erroneous Twitter rumor about Miles holding a press conference to resign as coach turned into a 24-hour media firestorm. The next day we all found out the report originated from a message board and realized one idiot with a Twitter account wasted a whole bunch of our time.
There certainly seems to be a lot more substance to this report, but until some details are actually published and sources are identified, don’t start stringing up the Cowboys’ noose.
Miles didn’t get a single question from the media about the Oklahoma State rumors at his weekly presser on Monday. It wasn’t because all the reporters were afraid to ask; it was because nothing had changed since Saturday night. Until the report is published there really isn’t anything to ask.
I’m not saying the reports are true or false. Frankly, I don’t know, and until the reports are released to the public neither does anyone else.
That’s why until all the facts are known, it is better to be patient rather than jumping to conclusions and looking foolish when you turn out to be wrong.