After David Berst, the NCAA’s director of enforcement, announced Southern Methodist had been hit with the death penalty in 1987, he fainted.
When asked how the penalties handed down to Penn State yesterday compared to the death penalty, Chuck Smrt, the assistant director at the time, didn’t mince words.
“This is worse,’’ Smrt told The Post. “This is much worse.
“SMU was barred from competing for year. The school added a second year because they weren’t ready to compete. This is four years loss of bowl games, loss of scholarships, and the opportunity for players to transfer immediately without penalty. This is more significant than the death penalty.’’
The NCAA imposed other penalties on Penn State for covering up the horrific actions of convicted pedophile Jerry Sandusky — fining the university $60 million and stripping the Nittany Lions of 111 wins dating back to 1998, the first year Penn State officials ignored the monster in their midst.
The NCAA’s intent was to make clear a football program never again would be more powerful than a university. So instead of the death penalty they went with an evisceration, cutting 10 initial scholarships and 20 each year over a four-year period.
Two top recruits, defensive lineman Greg Webb of New Jersey and cornerback Ross Douglas of Ohio, already announced they had reopened their recruitment. Penn State’s recruiting base is Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia.
Former Miami coach Butch Davis took over a program that had been stripped of 13 scholarships in 1996-97, 11 in 1997-98 and received a one-year bowl ban for violations committed under former coach Dennis Erickson.
He said it took three years “before we bottomed out.’’
“I heard someone say that Penn State will be at 65 scholarships, which is where we were, but the number is going to be lower,’’ Davis told The Post. “Kids get hurt. Kids decide they don’t want to play anymore. Kids don’t keep up their grades.
“We had two kids die in tragedies unrelated to football. We petitioned the NCAA to get those scholarships back. We didn’t get them.’’
The sanctions announced yesterday were levied by NCAA president Mark Emmert, marking the first time a man in his position personally acted as judge and jury. He based his decision on the report compiled by former FBI director Louis Freeh.
Sources told The Post members of the NCAA’s investigative and enforcement staffs tried to persuade Emmert to allow the institution to follow protocol, but those words fell on deaf ears. Penn State agreed to the penalties and will not appeal.
The $60 million fine will go toward an endowment for external programs to prevent child sex abuse and assist victims. The loss of the 111 wins drops former coach Joe Paterno (298 wins) from first to fifth on the career coaching wins list for Division I behind new leader, former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden (377).
First-year Penn State coach Bill O’Brien issued a statement reaffirming his commitment to the program. Initially he faced the burden of replacing a legend. Now he faces coaching under the most stringent penalties ever handed down by the NCAA.
“I knew when I accepted the position that there would be tough times ahead,’’ O’Brien said. “But I am committed for the long term to Penn State and our student athletes.’’
Because of Penn State’s facilities, fan base and membership in the Big Ten, the fine is not crippling. The loss of wins, one source said, smacked of a vindictive shot at Paterno, who died of lung cancer in January, before the Freeh investigation was launched.
“Penn State is going to have to get used to losing a lot of games to Northwestern and the schools in the Big East and MAC,’’ Toledo professor Geoffrey Rapp told The Post. “The program may never be the same.”
lenn.robbins@nypost.com