Firestorm Heading Missoula’s Way

A storm is headed Missoula’s way, but it’s not your traditional thunder-and-lightning show. Instead, the University of Montana must prepare for the firestorm that will hit once the NCAA’s investigative team descends upon Montana’s second-largest city.

In a sudden move that shocked the University and most likel the 50,000-plus residents of Missoula as well, the University of Montana fired Athletic Director Jim O’Day and head football coach Robin Pflugrad.

Without context, the timing of the firings seem highly questionable. Normally, schools don’t fire head coaches following an 11-3 season that ended in the national semifinals. Normally, schools don’t fire head coaches smack in the middle of spring practice. Normally, schools don’t fire athletic directors unless the athletic department is fledgling or something really, really big has happened.

On March 19, a rape allegation against Montana starting quarterback Jordan Johnson was filed and a restraining order preventing Johnson from making contact with the alleged victim was granted.

It would be one thing if this was just a one-time problem, if Johnson was the first Montana football player in years to face a sexual assault allegation. Unfortunately that is not the case and it appears the University, specifically the football program, has now been dealing with this issue for a couple years.

[Editor’s Note: A comprehensive breakdown of the charges levied at Montana players can be read at The Big Lead].

While the University has been relatively mum regarding O’Day’s and Pflugrad’s firings, saying only that it has “determined not to renew the contracts” of both, it doesn’t take long to find out what is really going on behind the scenes.

Back in January, The Big Lead posted an article highlighting a couple specific sexual assault cases the University was investigating. Many other news outlets have now surmised that the ongoing investigation is the ultimate cause for the change in leaderhship.

The three specific instances highlighted by Big Lead Sports, two of which involved Montana football players, are very disturbing.

In September 2010, Montana running Beau Donaldson allegedly starting have sex with a woman who was passed out on his couch. After the woman came forward to police a year later Donaldson admitted what happened. He faces felony charges of sexual intercourse without consent.

A couple months later, in December, a female student was reportedly gang raped after passing out at a house party in the early evening. She apparently told detectives she had “said yes” to all four of the men who allegedly had sex with her (not concurrently) and no charges were filed.

When it comes to sexual assault allegations against professional athletes I am usually try to avoid siding with either side. Just because a woman makes a rape allegation doesn’t mean she was raped. At the same time, just because women sometimes make up rape allegations doesn’t mean all are fabricated.

All that being said, if there’s one thing that I can take away from my time playing Division II football it is that a lot of football players are sex-obsessed jocks who love to take advantage of their “fame.” I’m not saying that all are, or even the majority. But when you have a program with 100+ males involved, you are going to see more than your fair share of questionable characters.

Just at a Division II level I saw guys who clearly thought with their pants first and head second, guys who would try and turn every roadtrip into a chance to make another notch on their mythical bedpost. I can only imagine how that is escalated at FCS and FBS programs when the athletes become celebrities around campus.

In my experience, being a member of a collegiate football team can provide many great, memorable experience both on and off the field. Some of my best friends are former teammates and the camaraderie formed amongst teammates is hard to duplicate elsewhere.

However, the off-the-field culture is also one that is very “hookup heavy.” The idea of “jersey chasers” is not just an idea, it’s real – there are females out there who have intense desire to hook up with athletes. Particularly when alcohol is involved, athletes and really all men and women need to be wary of their sexual conquests.

As much as my football team dismissed our Judicial Officer’s proclamation that “after one beer, a woman cannot consent to having sex” it often rings true when it comes to sexual assaults. In the case of the alleged gang-rape, the victim may have said yes, as she told police, but that doesn’t mean she was in any position to consent to sexual intercourse or that she even was aware what was going on.

The most disappointing part of this Montana story, for me, is that I am (or rather was) a fan of Montana football. In fact, Montana was one of the schools I considered attending with the goal of walking on to the football progam, then under the leadership of Bobby Hauck. Now, I’m left questioning my support of a program that is clearly involved, at some level, in the cover-up of serious rape allegations.

The University of Montana has not yet revealed any conclusions stemming from its ongoing investigating into these rape allegations but if the recent high-profile firings are any indication, the school must’ve found something very damning.

It’s only a matter of time before the NCAA itself launches a full investigation. When that happens, the penalties will most likely be far more severe and the damage could have a ripple effect throughout the entire Grizzly athletic department.