KRPS's Fred Fletcher-Fierro spoke with Jeff Sims, just a month after his hiring. Sims spoke about his mentors, promotions as a football coach and why he took the job at MSSU.
Three years probation. That is just one of the penalties announced by the NCAA on Missouri Southern State University's football program on Friday. KRPS's Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.
In an interview recorded nearly four years ago today, just days before Christmas in December of 2018, former Missouri Southern head football coach Jeff Sims told me, "There's an old saying, to eat an elephant, you eat it one bite at a time." The NCAA took a significant bite out of Missouri Sothern's football program Friday due to Sims's action during his roughly two years as head coach of the Lions.
The NCAA released a 25-page report detailing how MSSU quote, "failed to monitor its football program, which committed multiple NCAA violations over two academic years, including impermissible recruiting inducements and benefits, academic misconduct and violations of countable athletically related activities, according to an agreement released by the Division II Committee on Infractions."
In addition to three years probation, the university was fined $5,000 and was penalized with a reduction in scholarships and a forfeiture of wins during Sims's time as a coach and other penalties.
MSSU President Dean Van Galen released a statement saying, Southern is committed to a highly competitive NCAA Division II athletics program that supports a great student-athlete experience and prioritizes achieving these goals within a culture of compliance." For 89 9 KRPS, I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro
