[Sly Fox]

Former Liberty University football defensive standout Asa Chapman was indicted in Lynchburg Tuesday on charges of driving on a suspended or revoked license, possession of marijuana and possession of cocaine.

Apparently he didn't show up for a hearing in November that resulted in more charges including contempt of court.

[Old School]

Where it's Asa or Matt Dunton....both need to be prayed for and their families also.....it's a shame

[LUconn]

Agreed but I think it's also exposed a bit of cronyism at LU for all to see. Not just those who work there and experience it.

[Purple Haize]

I only had information in regard to the process through which Asa was re-instated. As for the latest legal developments, those are based on Asa and his defense counsel clearly not recognizing that the prior charges still needed to be addressed. That's inexcusable IMHO.

That's my main bone of contention. The process of reinstatement was flawed because it was based on nothing. One would think that in the process of reinstatement any prior outstanding charges were dealt with. Why would you even THINK about reinstating someone if that wasn't handled.
This whole thing and everyone who was involved (not that Rocco cares anymore) should be ashamed of what this did to the reputation of the University. But I would be s upraised if there were any type of public apology or statement. Just sweep it under the rug and tell everyone it is time to move on!

[jcmanson]

I started to type out a reply, but realized I've already said this...

Bottom line is Rocco was going "all in" on this season to try his best to raise his stock level to jump to another job. It was the AD and ultimately Jerry who let this go. I guess they trusted their football coach to make the decision in the best interest of the school, when apparently he (DR) was making decisions with his (DR's) best interests in mind and not the school's.

It was Rocco's, and Rocco's alone, call.

[Purple Haize]

JC. You are telling me that Rocco had more say then the Chancellor and the AD? I find that hard to believe. Either one of them could have, and should have, stepped in and nixed it. Instead they both claimed the New Liberty Way and New Era of Christian Development made everything ok. They told us if we only knew the 'real' story we would be ashamed of ourselves for jumping to conclusions! And let's not forget a certain Dean who claimed that Self Reporting made everything kosher.
Child Please! M sure Rocco lobbied hard but he answers to people and those people gave at least their tacit approval. I'm sure they will now try to dump it all on Rocco since he is no longer here and hope people forget what they did!

[BJWilliams]

I was in the same camp Sly was (especially based on what I was told) so it sounds to me too like there was something that wasnt said to the people I talked to and needless to say Im disappointed as well. Does it change my attitude about people? No...Ive always been a) a very forgiving person and b) fairly naive.

[Purple Haize]

? No...Ive always been b) fairly naive.

And this is why they will get away with this because you are not the only one

[bradyfan]

Obviously, this is a sad situation for us Liberty fans. Our school is supposed to be the standard for Christian collegiate athletics and we let something like this slide. I don't think you can only blame Rocco for this decision but he definitely had more knowledge of the situation than anyone else with say. With that said, we're still all human and we all struggle with different things. Our administration isn't going anywhere and I think we just have to forgive and forget. We're under a new coaching staff now, so this is a fresh beginning. I firmly believe that Gill is a man of principle and will not let similar future issues slide.

[Purple Haize]

CJ. I'm all for forgiving but to forget your mistake is just asking to repeat it. The sad thing is that no one will be held responsible for this atrocity. They will say 'But we didn't know'. Well it's your freakin job TOO KNOW especially before you reinstate the kid.
I love the new staff ( I could be cynical and say the best money can buy but I won't) and hope this type of situationNEVER repeats itself.

[truthorconsequences]

Obviously, this is a sad situation for us Liberty fans. Our school is supposed to be the standard for Christian collegiate athletics and we let something like this slide. I don't think you can only blame Rocco for this decision but he definitely had more knowledge of the situation than anyone else with say. With that said, we're still all human and we all struggle with different things. Our administration isn't going anywhere and I think we just have to forgive and forget. We're under a new coaching staff now, so this is a fresh beginning. I firmly believe that Gill is a man of principle and will not let similar future issues slide.

Better check with KU fans....

[From the class of 09]

Obviously, this is a sad situation for us Liberty fans. Our school is supposed to be the standard for Christian collegiate athletics and we let something like this slide. I don't think you can only blame Rocco for this decision but he definitely had more knowledge of the situation than anyone else with say. With that said, we're still all human and we all struggle with different things. Our administration isn't going anywhere and I think we just have to forgive and forget. We're under a new coaching staff now, so this is a fresh beginning. I firmly believe that Gill is a man of principle and will not let similar future issues slide.

Better check with KU fans....

Or Buffalo and Nebraska fans...seriously go away

[Purple Haize]

Obviously, this is a sad situation for us Liberty fans. Our school is supposed to be the standard for Christian collegiate athletics and we let something like this slide. I don't think you can only blame Rocco for this decision but he definitely had more knowledge of the situation than anyone else with say. With that said, we're still all human and we all struggle with different things. Our administration isn't going anywhere and I think we just have to forgive and forget. We're under a new coaching staff now, so this is a fresh beginning. I firmly believe that Gill is a man of principle and will not let similar future issues slide.

Better check with KU fans....

So you wanna fire Gill now?

[JLFJR]

I really appreciate the way all of you guys support LU athletics and I promise I will give you all the facts AFTER the legal process has run its course. There are reasons why I have to wait but I think that, once you have all the facts, you will see as Sly has pointed out that Liberty followed all of its policies and procedures to the letter and that, where no policy existed, a process was followed. At the end of the day, you may not agree with every decision that was made but you will see that no special treatment was given to this young man by Student Conduct, no changes were made in the Liberty Way (including the fact that only faculty, staff and students have direct access to the document -- that has been true for quite some time) and, if I had it to do over again, I still would not overrule the coach in his decision to let Mr. Chapman rejoin the team or do anything else differently (except maybe hire Sly to handle the PR). And, by the way, nothing unexpected by Liberty or Mr. Chapman has occurred in any of the legal proceedings to date.

[jcmanson]

JC. You are telling me that Rocco had more say then the Chancellor and the AD?

I think the Chancellor only stepped in to ensure "proper protocol" was followed. If he thought it wasn't, he would have stepped in. I also think it was left up to DR as to if he should be reinstated to the team. And I have no problem with that. The Admin placed their trust in the people they have hired in those positions to make the correct decisions.

[rogers3]

(except maybe hire Sly to handle the PR)

Now that's an idea! An alumnus... passionate about the school...

[4everfsu]

I really appreciate the way all of you guys support LU athletics and I promise I will give you all the facts AFTER the legal process has run its course. There are reasons why I have to wait but I think that, once you have all the facts, you will see as Sly has pointed out that Liberty followed all of its policies and procedures to the letter and that, where no policy existed, a process was followed. At the end of the day, you may not agree with every decision that was made but you will see that no special treatment was given to this young man by Student Conduct, no changes were made in the Liberty Way (including the fact that only faculty, staff and students have direct access to the document -- that has been true for quite some time) and, if I had it to do over again, I still would not overrule the coach in his decision to let Mr. Chapman rejoin the team or do anything else differently (except maybe hire Sly to handle the PR). And, by the way, nothing unexpected by Liberty or Mr. Chapman has occurred in any of the legal proceedings to date.

Maybe so, but BYU looks better for the way they handle their student athletes, still a shame to me for LU.

[adam42381]

I really appreciate the way all of you guys support LU athletics and I promise I will give you all the facts AFTER the legal process has run its course. There are reasons why I have to wait but I think that, once you have all the facts, you will see as Sly has pointed out that Liberty followed all of its policies and procedures to the letter and that, where no policy existed, a process was followed. At the end of the day, you may not agree with every decision that was made but you will see that no special treatment was given to this young man by Student Conduct, no changes were made in the Liberty Way (including the fact that only faculty, staff and students have direct access to the document -- that has been true for quite some time) and, if I had it to do over again, I still would not overrule the coach in his decision to let Mr. Chapman rejoin the team or do anything else differently (except maybe hire Sly to handle the PR). And, by the way, nothing unexpected by Liberty or Mr. Chapman has occurred in any of the legal proceedings to date.

Maybe so, but BYU looks better for the way they handle their student athletes, still a shame to me for LU.

+1

[Purple Haize]

JC. You are telling me that Rocco had more say then the Chancellor and the AD?

I think the Chancellor only stepped in to ensure "proper protocol" was followed. If he thought it wasn't, he would have stepped in. I also think it was left up to DR as to if he should be reinstated to the team. And I have no problem with that. The Admin placed their trust in the people they have hired in those positions to make the correct decisions.

It is very easy to hide behind protocol.
I disagree with the decision and even the fact that the decision would be the same again.
BYU looks better for what they did. VT looks less bad for shipping their people home or off the team.
Maybe we need to lower our standard of expectations of the University's athletic program.

[JLFJR]

JC. You are telling me that Rocco had more say then the Chancellor and the AD?

I think the Chancellor only stepped in to ensure "proper protocol" was followed. If he thought it wasn't, he would have stepped in. I also think it was left up to DR as to if he should be reinstated to the team. And I have no problem with that. The Admin placed their trust in the people they have hired in those positions to make the correct decisions.

You are right on target, JC. The other folks on here apparently don't understand the difference between agreeing with the coach's decision and ruling that the decision was so egregious that it had to be reversed and overruled. The facts were simply not there to go with the latter of these two choices. When all the facts are out, even those on this board who take the Bob Jones view that a Christian college should be less forgiving than a secular or non-Christian college when students are trying to turn their lives around should agree that the circumstances did not warrant my overruling the coach and thereby not allowing him to do his job. Jesus was all about forgiveness and second chances but I still would have reversed the coach's decision if he had not done his due diligence and given me a reasonable basis for his decision. That's why my initial statement said I could find no "compelling" reason to reverse the decision. When the former coach's reasoning, research and thought process are made public, there will still be room for reasonable people to disagree on his conclusion but I think all will agree that the decision was simply not arbitrary enough for me to micro-manage his coaching of the team and reverse him.

[Sly Fox]

A little BJU smack! Love it!

[Rooster Cogburn]

I have always felt (and said) that the legal process will keep the reasoning from being heard in the short term, but the logic will be revealed at the end of the proceedings. I still stand behind the decision you made to not overturn the coach's decision and will wait for the right timing to hear the details.

Thanks for setting the record straight.

[JLFJR]

Thank you, Rooster. When you hire people to do a job, you have to let them do their job and make their own mistakes. If you step in everytime an employee does something that is not exactly what you would do, then you demoralize people and create inefficiency.

[Purple Haize]

A little BJU smack! Love it!

Yeah, because I get confused for the Bob Jones type a lot on this board.

No one said anything about being less forgiving. No one said anything about denying second chances.
I'm fairly certain no one said that he should be kicked out of school. I understand full well the difference between agreeing with a decision and over turning the decision. I also understand why a coach would lobby hard for a player and have a bias, especially with an intrical part of the team. I am not suprised a coach would shade or with hold something that might make his player look bad. I would hope they wouldn't but see why they would.
Obviously due dilligence was not done on this at all levels. If it had been, the outstanding bench warrants etc would have been taken care of prior to the arrest thus making them a non issue. That's a second chance. Person had a problem, person wants a second chance, person fixes problem.
Is it Bob Jones like to think that an Evangelical Christian institution would suspend a player from the team, keep them in school and provide all of the support counseling etc they need want or desire until the criminal charges had been resolved? A small school in Blacksburg just did something similar. Are they too much like Bob Jones? Did they do the wrong thing?
BYU stuck to their guns and probably cost them a trip to the Final Four. And while most people thought the prohibition of Pre marital sex was stupid, they respected BYU for following their own code. Player remained in school but was suspended from the squad. It seems to me that the situation we had was a little more severe. Cocaine, marijuana, failure to appear warrants and driving with a suspended liscense seem a little more egregious then Pre marital sex.
Call me legalistic if you like but it is disappointing that apparently no one is taking responsibility because apparently no one thinks this was a bad decision.

[JLFJR]

Purple, LU followed its code, policies and procedures to the letter. You are still making arguments for why the coach should not have allowed him back on the team and I have already said that, when all the facts come out, there will still be room for reasonable people to disagree on that decision. I don't know that I would have made the same decision but the coach's decision will make a lot more sense to you when you have all the facts. I feel certain about that and I hope you will understand at that point why I did not intervene.