As domestic violence clouds college football, coaches work to root it out

It is important to Georgia coach Mark Richt that his players treat women properly. He tells them that all the time, and he uses himself and his coaching staff and their relationships with women as examples.

"We have a lot of family nights," Richt said. "Our wives are around this program, and they see how we honor them and respect them."

Each time a Colorado State position group meets with its coach, five or 10 minutes are devoted to what head coach Mike Bobo calls "character ed" time.

Bobo, a former offensive coordinator under Richt, and his staff use the time to bring up anything that's happening away from the football field. Sometimes that includes the coaches talking to their players about what it means to be a man, and, often about issues that are creating negative headlines for other players and programs across the country — which, lately, has been centered on sexual and domestic violence.

Arkansas coach Bret Bielema does the same thing, as does UNLV coach Tony Sanchez. Bielema will scan a newspaper or website, see a headline and rewrite it.

"We'll put it at the top of our meeting room, the headline of a negative publicity and say, 'Hey, this is here at this school, but it could be here if you allow it,'" Bielema said. "No matter who you are, what you are, if you ring the bell, you can't un-ring it."

Sanchez pulls out a newspaper story or printout and goes over every detail with his players. Then he asks them questions.

This could happen tonight. Are you ready for it? If this thing occurs, if you get into an argument with your girlfriend, what are your coping mechanisms? How do you handle it? Do you get pissed off and lash out? Do you go drink? Do you do this? If you constantly bring it up, they're thinking, what would I do if I was in that situation? What would I do if I were in a bar and someone called me a racial slur? How would I handle that?

"At the end of the day, the only thing people are going to see is that end result," Sanchez said. "What you did."

College football's offseason has been marred by violence against women, with ugly details surrounding the two most prominent examples. The video of Florida State freshman quarterback De'Andre Johnson punching a woman at a bar. The conviction of Baylor defensive end Sam Ukwuachu for sexually assaulting a Baylor soccer player after he transferred from Boise State, where his ex-girlfriend said he beat her up.

USA TODAY Sports spoke with a dozen FBS head coaches about how they educate players about issues of domestic violence and sexual assault. Some call on outside speakers, such as police officers, to send a message to their teams. Others have instituted new freshman orientation approaches, or upperclassman leadership training programs. Still others put the onus on themselves as coaches to make their players understand their values, and what it means to be a good man, something to reinforce daily.

And they are starting to realize their jobs may depend on it.

Still, there remain questions about how to most effectively teach young, powerful athletes who play a sport in which violence is lauded how to be not violent. And how to do it in a world of conflicting messages — where players, if they're good enough, are given second chances.

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In the aftermath of Ukwuachu's Aug. 20 conviction, many questions have been raised about what Baylor officials and coach Art Briles knew about Ukwuachu's violent history at Boise State, where he began his playing career. During Ukwuachu's trial, his ex-girlfriend testified that he hit and choked her while they were dating in Boise.

Much of the discussion post-conviction has focused on the "he said-he said" situation involving then-Boise State coach Chris Petersen and Briles, and communication the two had about Ukwuachu before he got to Baylor. But one piece that's worth examining in this context is the idea of who deserves a second chance to play college football.

Brandon Banks, a former Vanderbilt player accused of raping an unconscious woman will play football for Lane College, a Division II program, this fall. He was one of four former Vanderbilt players indicted in the case and is currently awaiting trial.

Jonathan Taylor, who was dismissed from Georgia's football program following a domestic violence incident, transferred to Alabama while charges were still pending. Taylor was then accused of domestic violence at Alabama and dismissed from that team; those charges were dropped. Oklahoma State kicked star returner Tyreek Hill off the team after he was accused of punching and choking his girlfriend. Now he is at Akron.

So, who deserves a second chance? Someone with a violent past but no legal action taken against them? Someone accused of domestic violence but not convicted? Someone charged with domestic violence, but then the charges were dropped?

A win-at-all-costs mentality can endanger women on campus, yet plenty of coaches give second chances to talented football players. But not everyone.

"I look at it like this: I have a player here at the University of Texas and look what he has — he has everything," Texas coach Charlie Strong told reporters Aug. 22. "He's on scholarship, he's playing at the highest level, he gets to go compete at the highest level, everything. The facilities, the resources are here for him. Now, if he can't do what we ask him to do and if for some reason he's dismissed from this program, I don't know why he deserves a second chance to go to somewhere like Florida. Why does he get to leave this program when he didn't do what we asked him to do? …

"I don't want to have to feel like I have to go outside to bring someone in who you know has had an issue. That's just the way I feel."

The Southeastern Conference has enacted a rule that prohibits transfers who were disciplined for "serious misconduct" issues at their previous schools — a swift response to Taylor transferring from Georgia to Alabama. The Big 12 appears poised to follow with similar legislation. By adopting this as a conference-wide measure, too, it maintains competitive balance.

Other coaches explained their approaches to taking transfers, and how thoroughly they delve into a player's past.

"You're always trying to look into everything and gain as much information as you possibly can with background checks and character references," Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. "There's a lot that goes into it in terms of research, researching the background, the character, and really trying to dive into, 'Does this individual fit your football program?'"

The same questions come up in recruiting, and sometimes it's not just the background check that signals a person's character.

Perhaps a potential recruit isn't giving proper respect to a female teacher or principal at school, Bielema said. Or maybe he curses at his mother, or makes inappropriate comments in front of his sister during a home visit. Bielema, is taking mental notes … and crossing him off his list.

"I tell our players, time and time again, and our coaches, we will drop anybody in a New York second if they show disrespect towards women — because its usually is an indicator there's a deeper source of an issue there," Bielema said. "I can't tell you how many times that's come through and where I may watch a young man, even after we drop him, and he goes somewhere else and a year or two later he has an issue. That's just because you can tell they just don't put the same value to relationships that they do to a female that they do to males."

Virginia coach Mike London looks for these minor moments, too, glimpses into a person's character and his relationship with the women in his life. London watches to see if a recruit will hold a door open for his mother. Or if he'll get out of his seat to introduce himself to London's wife when they're at a recruiting dinner.

"I just like to kind of look at those subtle things," London said. "Having a measured amount of respect and manners and things like that, it does matter."

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In 2010, 19-year-old freshman Lizzy Seeberg accused a Notre Dame football player of sexually assaulting her. She filed a report to campus police. Ten days after the alleged assault, Seeberg committed suicide.

After the subsequent Title IX investigation and among other improvements to Notre Dame's protocol for reporting and handling sexual assault allegations, football coach Brian Kelly learned one major lesson about educating his players on these topics.

"It's something we determined needed to be done on a year-round basis, instead of just in the fall," Kelly said. "Fall, spring and summer (now). We hit them in the three seasons."

Nebraska coach Mike Riley uses outside speakers, too, and one inside speaker — a staff member who is a former New York City police officer, someone who can explain all of the legal responsibilities and repercussions to Riley's players. Jones brings in speakers once a month, so Tennessee's program, too, is a year-round one. As college football coaches know all too well, it can be quite difficult to get a message to stick when you're dealing with 18- to 22-year-olds.

But coaches are trying. Jones brought in Kathy Redmond Brown, the founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, last week. Alexis Jones, who has worked with prominent teams as well as the Elite 11 quarterback development program on issues of sexual assault and domestic violence through her program, ProtectHer, has met with five major programs. She's in the process of planning sessions with Idaho and Boise State for October.

Earlier this offseason, Boise State coach Bryan Harsin also implemented a new program — an orientation geared toward the freshman football players. It was, essentially, a role-playing exercise.

"Real scenarios that have come up where you're in a situation and you see something going on," Harsin said. "A guy sitting there and a girl who's drank too much and another guy has his arm around her. One of the guys is watching and he steps up to do something about it, and he knows it's probably going to be a bad situation. Scenarios like that — what do you do?

"The goal is for when that situation really happens, hopefully you've trained yourself — this is the chance to do something right. You prepare for it. If you don't, now you're counting on these guys to make decisions when they're uneducated. Our job is to educate them."

London has a unique background that makes his approach to education particularly poignant. Before entering coaching, he worked as a police officer and detective in Richmond; he draws from his own personal experiences when talking with his players about off-field issues, like domestic violence. That past has shaped the core values of London's program.

"I have seen the worst of what people do to each other," London said. "I've seen the worst of what fathers do to wives and children. ... Borne out of being a police office and having interactions and watching people deal with loved ones is treat people with dignity and respect. That's the third tenet of this team. I got that out of just observing human behavior outside of athletics.

"I always try to paint the picture of everyone has a mother, a grandmother. Some have sisters some don't, but at the same time, I would talk about different things, personal stories being a police officer that hopefully" resonate.

Part of the increased awareness regarding sexual violence on Virginia's campus is a program called Green Dot, etc., which launched campus-wide in March. The premise is, simply, if you want to change the culture of the campus and make it a safer space, everyone must do something — including bystanders. Three football players are included in the program's promotional video. There also is a weekly element, called #HoosGotYourBack, in which people wear T-shirts to reinforce the importance of bystander awareness and a supportive community. As a visible member of the school and athletic community, London makes sure to wear his T-shirt to support the cause.

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Alexis Jones is an optimist. She sees the negative headlines involving assault, rape and violence and thinks about the athletes she's worked with, the young men who want to understand consent, healthy relationships and being good men.

"The whole world loves salacious stories," Jones said. "The whole Boise State-Baylor (thing). We love jumping on the bandwagon of, 'Yet again, another monster attacks a girl.' The truth is standing in that room with those guys, staring into their eyes, I've never been so hopeful. I've never been so hopeful that there is a generation of young men that exists who want to be better and haven't necessarily been shown how to."

She urges players to think about the media and content they consume, and how it depicts women. She has them question why is it "cool" to sleep around? And she has them question other parts of a culture that needs changing. Then, she urges them to be part of the change.

Redmond Brown also emphasizes proactive education, and specific policies in place that do not allow exceptions for star players. She thinks education on all topics involving women need to be broader to include what happens when athletes are on recruiting trips, or when they receive naked photos from women they don't know.

Redmond Brown would also like to see players volunteering at rape crisis centers and be involved in on-campus public service announcements about treating women with respect. She'd like to see programs appoint someone within the program as kind of a touchpoint for sticky situations, a way for players to avoid ratting out a teammate but also a path to handling a tough situation.

"All it takes really is a reinforcement of what it means to be masculine," Redmond Brown said. "There are great things attached to being masculine. Those aren't being reinforced. It's the toxic stuff that's being reinforced."

As both women point out: Cultures only change when leadership makes it a priority. Certainly, some of college football's most high-profile coaches agree.

"You're seeing a new generation of leadership who recognize the power that they have and want to do more with it than just having winning seasons," Jones said. "They want to have winning kids."

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