Earlier this week there was some news that stunned the college football world, and that was the announcement that the Penn State Nittany Lions were having their sanctions lifted by the NCAA, meaning they are bowl-eligible immediately this season and they will get their scholarships back in 2015.
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Many knew that this was eventually coming, they just did not expect it so soon. And while there are some that still believe Penn State got off easy, a good majority of folks were happy for the Penn State program, and that includes two of the Big Ten’s most high-profile coaches, Michigan’s Brady Hoke and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.
“I think it’s really good for them and it’s good for their kids,” said Michigan head coach Brady Hoke, per MLive.com. “You hate to see kids miss out on opportunities and experiences, especially when they have nothing to do with the situation that happened.”
Ferentz also weighed in:
“Just one person’s opinion, and maybe I shouldn’t even voice it…I thought it was an unfortunate situation on a lot of fronts, most unfortunate for the players on the football team,” said Ferentz. “It really was an unbelievable challenge for Bill O’Brien and his staff to walk in to a situation where the sanctions that got passed not only restricted them from playing in bowls, but also it was open season. People were trying to recruit guys on their roster.”
The opinions of Ferentz and Hoke seem to be the popular ones over time, considering that the kids that were being punished really did nothing to deserve it.