As you learned in week one, each National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) division is governed by a series of bylaws that are outlined in each division’s manual. Our focus this week is on NCAA Division I Bylaws 10 and 11. Bylaw 10 focuses on ethical conduct, and Bylaw 11 focuses on the conduct and employment of institutional personnel.

Bylaw 10 revolves around the NCAA’s general principle of honesty and sportsmanship. Specifically, Bylaw 10.01.1 states “[i]ndividuals employed by (or associated with) a member institution to administer, conduct or coach intercollegiate athletics and all participating student-athletes shall act with honesty and sportsmanship at all times so that intercollegiate athletics as a whole, their institutions and they, as individuals, shall represent the honor and dignity of fair play and the generally recognized high standards associated with wholesome competitive sports.” Key items included in Bylaw 10 are the NCAA’s definition of unethical conduct and legislation relating to drug use and sports wagering and gambling.

As noted, Bylaw 11 primarily deals with the NCAA’s conduct expectations of institutional personnel and limitations the NCAA places on member institutions regarding whom they may employ and the permissible job functions of these employees. Bylaw 11 includes the NCAA’s recent changes to legislation relating to the compliance responsibilities of Division I head coaches. NCAA Division I Bylaw 11.1.1.1 states that “an institution's head coach is presumed to be responsible for the actions of all assistant coaches and administrators who report, directly or indirectly, to the head coach. Further, “a head coach shall promote an atmosphere of compliance within his or her program and shall monitor the activities of all assistant coaches and administrators involved with the program who report, directly or indirectly, to the coach.”