SEC Football: It’s time for a league-wide disciplinary policy

SEC football has some of the most passionate fans in college football, as well as all of American sports. But with the win-at-all-costs mentality that many of these schools and coaching staffs have, at some point, the Southeastern Conference is going to have to establish a league-wide disciplinary policy. It only makes sense.

The passion for SEC football doesn’t stop with fans. There are coachers, players, students, and administrations at these universities that all want nothing more than for their school to win football games. Some want to win within the rules and regulations of the sport. While others have proven time and time again that they want to win at all costs, and they will do anything to make that happen.

To put this in perspective, let’s take a look at the Olympics, the oldest athletic competition in the world. Athletes have been trying to gain a competitive advantage over their competition for as long as sports have existed, but some are willing to go to greater lengths to achieve this.

Athletes tried all sorts of things to enhance their performance, including the use of amphetamines, testosterone, the list goes on and on. This reached a boiling point with the controversy of Canadian Ben Johnson winning the gold medal in 100m at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

Finally, something was done about it in the 1990s when the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was formed in 1999. Since then, the WADA has cracked down on the use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) at the Olympics.

From 1968 to 1996 (8 Olympic Games), there were 53 athletes that were disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance, and that includes zero in the 1980 games in Moscow, where it’s speculated that athletes started using testosterone to beat tests.

In the five Olympic Games since the WADA was formed, there have been 161 athletes that have been disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance, including 37 in Athens in 2004, 41 in Beijing in 2008, and 53 at the 2012 London games. That number dropped to 15 at the games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Now let’s bring it back to the topic we all care about, which is SEC football. Allowing college football coaches and universities to make their own disciplinary policies, is the same as allowing countries to drug test their own athletes.

The countries/schools with integrity are going to be honest when one of their athletes breaks the rules and will punish them accordingly. Whereas the ones who want to win at all costs, they will just sweep any wrongdoing under the rug in order to win games.

Da’Shawn Hand arrest

As you’ve likely already heard, Alabama defensive end Da’Shawn Hand was arrested for driving under the influence last week. And what made bigger headlines than Hand’s arrest, was that Nick Saban has already chosen not to suspend his star defensive player. Coincidentally, the Crimson Tide play Florida State in the season opener.

Saban received a lot of criticism last season when two of his players, Cam Robinson and Hootie Jones, were arrested in Louisiana on marijuana and weapons charges. District Attorney, Jerry Jones, threw the case out for the following reason.

“I want to emphasize once again that the main reason I’m doing this is that I refuse to ruin the lives of two young men who have spent their adolescence and teenage years, working and sweating, while we were all in the air conditioning,” Jones said.

So while these two players likely did something they weren’t supposed to, Saban was given an out in this situation. The legal system said that these two young men did nothing wrong, so they shouldn’t be suspended. I get that.

Now fast forward to 2017 with Da’Shawn Hand. Hand was found asleep in a parked car in a parking lot close to campus. But since the keys were in the ignition, he was given a DUI.

Now I will say I am 100 percent in Hand’s corner in this situation. Driving under the influence is just about the worst thing you can do in a vehicle. You’re putting yourself and all other drivers on the road in danger when you choose to drive under the influence.

Now, we don’t know exactly how far Hand drove under the influence, or if he even drove at all. But judging by the details of this situation, it sounds like he was driving, came to the conclusion that he was too impaired to drive, then pulled into a parking lot to sleep it off. To me, that sounds like a responsible decision for a 21-about to be 22-year-old to make, but it’s not up to me.

I’m not up on a soapbox saying that 18-22-year-olds need to be flawless citizens. We all make mistakes, especially at that age. I’m simply saying that college football needs to have a universal disciplinary policy, at the very least on the conference level.

Drug Testing

OnlineAthens.com did a story back in June about how some SEC schools view a uniform drug-testing policy. Georgia, who is known to have one of the strictest policies in the SEC, had two players, Riley Ridley and Elijah Holyfield, arrested on separate misdemeanor marijuana charges this offseason, and both of them will likely be suspended for the Sept. 2 game against Appalachian State.

Meanwhile, Florida and Alabama, two of the most lenient policies in the SEC, also had a player arrested this offseason on marijuana charges. Florida has yet to make a decision on Antonio Callaway, the Gators’ leading receiver from last season, but considering Florida is playing Michigan in the season opener, what are the chances he’s suited up in Arlington, Tex. on Sept. 2? I would say likely.

More from Southbound and Down

• Texas A&M vs. Auburn: Line, Prediction, TV Channel & Live Stream for SEC Football
• 3 Up’s, 3 Down’s from Georgia’s 24-14 Win Over South Carolina
• Ole Miss Football: Looking back at the Rebels career of Zedrick Woods
• Alabama vs. Ole Miss: Line, Prediction, TV Channel & Live Stream for SEC Football
• “Horns Down” will not be a Penalty in the SEC

Back in 2011, Bleacher Report did a story about SEC school’s drug testing policies. According to the 2011 report, Georgia and Kentucky are the only two schools in the SEC that require a suspension for the first failed drug test. At Ole Miss, student athletes must fail three drug tests before ever receiving a suspension, and at Florida players aren’t dismissed from the program until their fifth failed drug tests.

This was before Texas A&M and Missouri were members of the SEC, and Vanderbilt being a private institution does not have to disclose that type of information. And for all I know, some of these policies could have changed since.

Next: Six SEC teams in Preseason Coaches Poll

I’m not saying which of these policies is right or wrong. I’m simply saying it’s time for SEC football to have a league-wide disciplinary policy, the same way the NFL, the olympics, and nearly every other competition does. Enough is enough.