Nov. 10, 2011
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By John Denton
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. - UCF's interim director of Athletics, Admiral Al Harms, spoke Thursday of a bright future for the university and stressed his mission to "make sure we never have this problem again" by strengthening UCF's culture of compliance.
UCF President John C. Hitt named Harms the interim AD on Wednesday after he accepted Keith Tribble's resignation following the receipt of an NCAA report that detailed multiple violations in UCF's football and men's basketball programs. The report specifically cited Tribble and assistant football coach David Kelly for unethical conduct when meeting with NCAA investigators. Kelly resigned as UCF's wide receivers coach on Wednesday.
In addition, UCF suspended men's basketball coach Donnie Jones for three conference games without pay and will issue him an official letter of reprimand.
Harms serves as UCF's vice president for Strategy, Marketing, Communications and Admissions. A retired Navy vice admiral, he previously served as interim director of Athletics in 2006. Among other duties, he currently chairs a committee that oversees football game day operations.
"Admiral Harms is a leader of extraordinary integrity who has my complete confidence," Hitt said. "No one is better suited to begin this rebuilding process."
Harms said his first action was to meet with UCF's coaches and the Athletics Association's management team. He will begin a thorough and comprehensive review of the Athletics Association's structure, policies and procedures. The goal, Harms said, is to ensure a rededication to a culture of compliance.
"There are a million things to do, but that's OK because I have lots of good people supporting me," said Harms, who will attend UCF's football game against Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Saturday night. "Our job is really pretty simple: It's running this program the right way and being responsible for 500 great student-athletes. We're going to get the program squared away and look at everything, challenge every assumption and, if necessary, make changes."
Harms endorsed UCF basketball coach Donnie Jones. Jones, who signed four high school players to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday, cooperated fully with investigators, and he'll be on the sidelines Saturday night when the Knights host Saint Thomas in the regular season opener.
"I have tremendous trust and confidence in Coach Jones," Harms said. "He immediately stood tall and accepted responsibility for the actions, and we're on the right course now."
Jones, who guided the Knights to 21 wins and landmark victories against Florida and Miami in his first season at UCF, said he was disappointed by the violations outlined in the NCAA report. But he stressed that UCF will soon be back on track.
"It's going to be hard not getting to coach my team for three games, but I have great respect for Dr. Hitt and this great university and I accept the penalty," Jones said. "Obviously, some mistakes were made. But now it's up to us to improve and get better and continue to represent this school in a first-class manner."
Harms said UCF will likely use the allowed 90 days before responding to the NCAA about the allegations.
"There are always two ways to respond - you could go run and hide, cover it over and try to make it less than it is; or you can face it head on and be committed to truly fixing the program. I think that's where we are," Harms said. "We want to fix this and make sure we don't have these problems again."
John Denton's Knights Insider appears on UCFAthletics.com several times a week. E-mail John at jdenton@athletics.ucf.edu.