Texas Tech University Athletics
Quoting Texas Tech Head Football Coach Spike Dykes
June 21, 1999 | General
August 4, 1998
On the fact that the NCAA has made its final decision:
"It's been a tough go at it. Probably the toughest thing I've
ever done as a coach is tell those guys we were taking ourselves
out of a bowl last year. They handled it well and the good thing
about it is that it puts all the innuendoes and different slants
to rest and we can get back to possessiveness and just playing
football. Like I said, I think that our administration did a
fantastic job of supporting the whole situation and keeping
everything together. Bob Burton, our compliance officer did a
magnificent job with his presentation and expertise. I think the
self-imposed penalties that we imposed were hard for us to do.
Thank goodness it all worked out that that was sufficient. So
now, the best thing about it is that the cloud is gone now and we
can go about business."
On the fact that Texas Tech taking the football team out of bowl game and the men's basketball team out of the NCAA Tournament helped in the process:
"I think so. I think that having a guy like Bob Burton on board
who has been with the NCAA before, he had a good feel on what it
would take. I think our administration had a good feel after
talking to the attorneys. You're giving the possibility of being
in a championship game and all the recruiting things that we did,
it's pretty severe. Thank goodness, it all went well. It's nice
to get it over with, it really is."
On where this leaves the Texas Tech football program:
"I think whatever had come down the pike, because the quality and
character of what they're made of, they would've accepted
whatever decision they made. It's a breath of fresh air. I
think when you can play for something, it certainly makes a big
difference. What we did last year, it was awful hard on the
seniors. I would have to say that we feel pretty good about
where we are now."
On the uncertainty of not knowing about the NCAA ruling:
"There's always the uncertainty. Everybody's got an answer and
everybody knows more than everyone else knows. What happens is
that there's so much negativity in the world today that if you're
not careful, you begin to think that everything that happens is
going to be bad. That's just the nature of America. Thank
goodness it turned out okay. We've still got some sanctions,
we've got some recruiting numbers that we've got to live up to-
drastic measures. They are drastic measures- some we can live
with and some we'll do the best we can with."
On comparing the NCAA sanctions with Miami and Alabama:
"When you're restricted, the big thing is that if the guys you
have on board can play and if you don't have any dead weight, you
have a chance to exist. We don't have many guys on our team who
are bad players so we've got a chance."
On the fact that the Red Raiders could potentially be going to a bowl and the impact that has on the team:
"It is a huge plus. The huge plus is the fact that there's no
more cloud, no more maybes, no more uncertainties. That's the
great thing about it. If you only knew what the last two years
have been for our guys. They've been told everything in the
world. They expected the worse. Some of these recruits were told
that if they came here, they would never, ever be able to play in
a bowl game. You believe what people tell you. Now we can go
about business. All the changes we've made in the whole process
have happened for the best. We'll be a bigger, better, stronger
university because of this. Our academic support group is second
to none, I think our compliance program is absolutely
unbelievable. I've always appreciated the support of John
Montford and Dr. Donald Haragan, so that part has been real good."
