NORMAN, OKLA. (AP) - Oklahoma’s football team has been required to give players a week off from athletic training during the offseason after reporting a series of secondary NCAA rules violations.
The Sooners reported to the NCAA that four assistant coaches had improperly questioned players about their lack of participation in voluntary offseason workouts, and that some players had been working out more than the allowed eight hours per week.
The violations were included in documents released to The Associated Press on Tuesday following an open records request.
According to a letter sent to NCAA director of secondary enforcement Chris Strobel, the university started an investigation after a player refused to sign a weekly practice log and then provided Oklahoma’s compliance director with a recording of defensive backs coach Willie Martinez asking why he had missed a voluntary workout.
The investigation found that receivers coach Jay Norvell and offensive line coach James Patton also discussed attendance at the workouts with players, and defensive tackles coach Jackie Shipp received reports from the strength staff on who was participating.
Oklahoma also informed the NCAA that secondary violations occurred when football players went through Pilates sessions in addition to their offseason workouts, when strength coaches observed players’ independent agility training and when seven players were required to repeat a conditioning drill. All three resulted the players going over the NCAA’s eight-hour weekly limit on guided offseason workouts.
Other violations included a handful of self-reported impermissible text messages and phone calls by assistant coaches to recruits and their fathers, and the team’s website posting links to recruiting websites on signing day last year.
The men’s basketball team, which was on NCAA probation until May and is again being investigated, also reported secondary violations resulting from two assistant coaches placing two impermissible recruiting calls apiece and three violations related to official visits by prospects.
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