SMU May Be in Trouble Again

Southern Methodist, the only school to have been given the “death penalty” by the NCAA, may be in trouble again, on a smaller scale.

According to Athletic Director Jim Copeland, suspended assistant football coach Steve Malin might have committed more serious violations than the school originally believed.

“We have found things that are disturbing beyond secondary violations,” Copeland said.

SMU announced on Aug. 6 that it suspended Malin with pay and hired the Kansas City law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King to investigate.

Copeland would not discuss the specifics of the findings, but said they did not involve any other current or past SMU coaches.

Malin was interviewed in the last two weeks, the final step in the investigation, Copeland said.

SMU had its football program shut down in 1987 after a string of “pay for play” incidents. Copeland said this case does not warrant death-penalty consideration.