For whatever my two cents are worth, I’m in favor of letting the process play itself out. I know the discretion thing was put in place a while ago and I was privileged to be on a Zoom call with Caslen a few weeks ago where he explained the process and how it actually benefitted not only the individuals but the Corps and Army in the long run. The mentorship aspect and probationary period in particular are good ideas and also promote kids self reporting, which I believe is honorable.
That being said, once April rolls around, and the investigations are done, whatever Class of 2023 football players (and other athletes) are found guilty of cheating, I hope part of their probation is that their Corps Squad days at Army are over. While I’m not for immediate expulsion especially if a kid self reports and learns through the mentorship program what honorable living looks like, I do think the punishment for cheating should be serious and costly.
There is clearly a culture problem at USMA and on the football team (at least with the class of 2023) that needs to be straightened out.
The thing is, if JM gets in trouble at all, he’ll just go get a higher paying job elsewhere so he’s not really at risk for the lack of leadership.
This is also a bad look for the upperclassmen who are supposed to be the leaders (not just on the team, but in the Corps as well).
Timing of this kind of news is never good, but I agree that it was weak leadership to not get ahead of this problem when it happened and put out our own statement this summer.
Let’s learn from it and get better as a team and academy.
Beat WVU!!