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CNN Live At Daybreak
Iowa State Head Basketball Coach Larry Eustachy Resigns
Aired May 06, 2003 - 05:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Iowa State head basketball coach Larry Eustachy resigned on Monday, ending a week of turmoil for two high profile college coaches.
Beth Nissen takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iowa State basketball coach Larry Eustachy resigned from his million dollar a year job after photos surfaced showing him drinking with students and kissing women at a college party earlier this year. There were reports that Eustachy had partied with college students after two other recent Iowa State basketball games.
GREGORY GEOFFROY, PRESIDENT, IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: We believe accepting his resignation will bring resolution to a very difficult issue.
NISSEN: Mike Price had similar public fall from a notable height. As head football coach at Washington State, Price had taken his team to the Rose Bowl in January. Four months ago, he was offered a seven year, $10 million contract to take one of the highest profile jobs in college football, head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide.
But last month while in Pensacola, Florida to play in a pro am golf tournament, Price spent a night drinking heavily in a topless bar. He ended up in his hotel room with a stripper named Destiny, who charged $1,000 worth of room service to his hotel bill by ordering one of everything off the menu.
Price made a tearful public apology for what he called "inappropriate behavior" and asked for forgiveness.
MIKE PRICE, FIRED ALABAMA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: I don't know what kind of a world it would be or how many people would be in that world if it was a world where you make one mistake and you're done.
NISSEN: University of Alabama President Robert Witt was unmoved. Price was fired.
RICHARD LAPCHICK, SPORTS ETHICS SPECIALIST, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA: When a coach misbehaves and it becomes public information, that reflects on the entire institution. It's not just the coach and his football program or the athletics program. He's the representative of the University of Alabama. NISSEN: Iowa State's Eustachy, too, made a remorseful public apology.
LARRY EUSTACHY, IOWA STATE HEAD BASKETBALL COACH: I have no excuses for my behavior. I stand here sitting in front of you as I am for what I've done.
NISSEN: The coach also announced that he is an alcoholic and is undergoing treatment.
Richard Lapchick, who researches sports and ethics, believes the role of alcohol in both incidents strongly influenced Alabama's and Iowa State's actions toward the two coaches.
LAPCHICK: If you went to a college campus today and asked the vice president for student services what the biggest problem on a college campus is today, there would be one answer -- alcohol. If the probably best known figure on that campus is seen drinking to, in excess in public places, it's going to send the wrong message right across the campus.
NISSEN: The message sent at Iowa State and Alabama -- coaches are responsible for their team's record on the field and a clean record of personal behavior off it.
Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 6, 2003 - 05:51 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Iowa State head basketball coach Larry Eustachy resigned on Monday, ending a week of turmoil for two high profile college coaches.
Beth Nissen takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iowa State basketball coach Larry Eustachy resigned from his million dollar a year job after photos surfaced showing him drinking with students and kissing women at a college party earlier this year. There were reports that Eustachy had partied with college students after two other recent Iowa State basketball games.
GREGORY GEOFFROY, PRESIDENT, IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY: We believe accepting his resignation will bring resolution to a very difficult issue.
NISSEN: Mike Price had similar public fall from a notable height. As head football coach at Washington State, Price had taken his team to the Rose Bowl in January. Four months ago, he was offered a seven year, $10 million contract to take one of the highest profile jobs in college football, head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide.
But last month while in Pensacola, Florida to play in a pro am golf tournament, Price spent a night drinking heavily in a topless bar. He ended up in his hotel room with a stripper named Destiny, who charged $1,000 worth of room service to his hotel bill by ordering one of everything off the menu.
Price made a tearful public apology for what he called "inappropriate behavior" and asked for forgiveness.
MIKE PRICE, FIRED ALABAMA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: I don't know what kind of a world it would be or how many people would be in that world if it was a world where you make one mistake and you're done.
NISSEN: University of Alabama President Robert Witt was unmoved. Price was fired.
RICHARD LAPCHICK, SPORTS ETHICS SPECIALIST, UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA: When a coach misbehaves and it becomes public information, that reflects on the entire institution. It's not just the coach and his football program or the athletics program. He's the representative of the University of Alabama. NISSEN: Iowa State's Eustachy, too, made a remorseful public apology.
LARRY EUSTACHY, IOWA STATE HEAD BASKETBALL COACH: I have no excuses for my behavior. I stand here sitting in front of you as I am for what I've done.
NISSEN: The coach also announced that he is an alcoholic and is undergoing treatment.
Richard Lapchick, who researches sports and ethics, believes the role of alcohol in both incidents strongly influenced Alabama's and Iowa State's actions toward the two coaches.
LAPCHICK: If you went to a college campus today and asked the vice president for student services what the biggest problem on a college campus is today, there would be one answer -- alcohol. If the probably best known figure on that campus is seen drinking to, in excess in public places, it's going to send the wrong message right across the campus.
NISSEN: The message sent at Iowa State and Alabama -- coaches are responsible for their team's record on the field and a clean record of personal behavior off it.
Beth Nissen, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
