Many of these minor rules, such as those restricting the colors in a recruiting brochure and establishing time periods when an institution may telephone a prospect, seem preposterous. The seeming pointlessness of such rules is intensified by the mild response of the NCAA enforcement staff when an institution reports violations. At best, the recommended solutions or corrective action stemming from the discovery and subsequent reporting of a secondary violation are designed to educate the violator and other staff members in the athletics department to prevent the violations from recurring. This is evidenced by the fact that significantly more violations are being reported today by member institutions than at any time in NCAA history. Despite the record high in violation reports to the NCAA, I believe that there are just as many or more of these secondary violations going unreported by individuals and institutions because of the copious and complex nature of the rules.
Violations occur for numerous reasons.
It appears that some employees do not believe in complying with what they consider to be minor or insignificant rules. They believe other schools are violating certain rules without being detected and feel disadvantaged if they comply with the rules. It is impossible for the most conscientious staff member at an institution to know all the rules from memory or to fully understand the intent of each one. Even rules experts in the NCAA's legislative services staff usually have to research their own responses to inquiries from member institutions. Athletics traditions also mitigate against rules compliance.