Former Air Force golf coach gambled on sports, including Air Force football, NCAA says

A former Air Force men’s golf head coach violated NCAA rules when he knowingly participated in impermissible sports wagering, including placing bets on the football program at Air Force, according to an agreement released by the Division I Committee on Infractions.

The former head coach was not named in the report. Air Force would not confirm the coach’s identity to Golfweek but did provide this statement:

“The U.S. Air Force Academy is pleased to have this issue resolved after working collaboratively with the NCAA Enforcement Staff and taking full responsibility, consistent with our institutional values. While the individuals’ actions were disappointing, the identification of the infractions and work throughout the negotiated resolution process shows that we have a robust NCAA compliance program and that our monitoring procedures are working. We will learn from the missteps and double down on our educational and monitoring efforts to avoid future infractions,” Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard Clark and Director of Athletics Nathan Pine said.

The violations occurred when the former coach created an account for an online sports wagering program using his then-girlfriend’s identification information because he knew NCAA rules prohibited participating in wagering on sports (at any level) the NCAA sponsors. Over the course of four months, he wagered $9,259 on 253 occasions — both professional and college sports — using that account. Of those wagers, 107 were on NCAA events, including six Air Force football games.

Because NCAA rules do not permit sports wagering, the head coach’s conduct violated NCAA principles of honesty and sportsmanship. Because of his personal involvement in the violations and his efforts to conceal behavior he knew was impermissible, he did not promote an atmosphere of compliance and thus violated NCAA head coach responsibility rules.

The parties used ranges identified by the Division I membership-approved infractions penalty guidelines to agree upon Level I-mitigated penalties for the university and Level I-aggravated penalties for the men’s golf head coach. There were also sanctions levied against the men’s ice hockey program.

The full list of penalties include:

• Three additional years of probation, to be served after the school’s existing probationary period stemming from a previous infractions case, extending the probationary period until September 2027.
• A $5,000 fine.
• A two-week prohibition in all recruiting communications in men’s ice hockey.
• A five-year show-cause order for the former men’s golf head coach. During the show-cause order, any employing member institution shall restrict the former head coach from any athletically related position. If the former head coach becomes employed in the first year after the show-cause order, he shall be suspended for 50% of the men’s golf regular season.

Members of the Committee on Infractions are drawn from the NCAA membership and members of the public. The members of the panel who reviewed this case are Norman Bay, attorney in private practice; Vince Nicastro, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the Big East; and Dave Roberts, special advisor to Southern California and chief hearing officer for the panel.