UNM announced today that the Athletics Department received notices of four potential violations from the NCAA regarding members of the football coaching staff.
Three unnamed football coaches, not including head coach Rocky Long, helped four recruits and one student athlete get course credit they did not earn from Fresno Pacific University, the notice states.
The potential violations happened in spring 2004 and fall 2005, the notice states.
"There was no knowledge on the part of the institution until last summer (2006)," said Paul Krebs, executive vice president for athletics.
According to the notice, the coaches helped the students enroll in and falsely obtain credit for correspondence courses with help from the courses' instructor.
None of the students are on the UNM football team, and only two them of them played for the Lobos, Krebs said.
Krebs declined to comment on what punishments the NCAA might impose on the department if the allegations are found to be true.
Neither Long nor the Athletics Department were aware of these situations, Krebs said.
"The most important thing is for us to conduct our own investigation," he said. "We are going to do what we think is right."
Two of the three coaches suspected of violating the rules are no longer on staff, Krebs said.
"The coach will continue to coach until we complete our investigation," he said. "The charges are serious, and we don't take those lightly."
Krebs said the department would respond to the NCAA in December.
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He said the department may impose sanctions and penalties on itself depending on the outcome of the investigation.
He said no other UNM teams would be investigated.
"This does not involve any other programs," he said. "This does not involve any other student athletes."
Krebs said he and UNM president David Schmidly made changes early this year in the department to ensure compliance with NCAA rules.
