I was very curious as to what suggestions were going to come out of Chapel Hill on Wednesday, but now we don't have to wait.

The committee seems to have taken an education approach, and most of the ideas they put forth I commend them on.

I really like the idea of the check list and the mandatory classes for ALL coaches, not just the head or faculty coaches. These two things combined will not allow for the ignorance defense, and it will make coaches more accountable for their actions.

The check list is going to be the first item on the protocol sheet for formal complaints. That is key. Why? Because if a coach or school has a complaint filed against them and they were not following the "best practices," then that will punish them to a further extent - if not by the NCHSAA - in the PR department.

Of course, if the NCHSAA did implement stricter punishments for coaches and schools that did not follow the check list, that would put even more responsibility on the coaches - and that would be a good thing!

The educational classes will only work if they are mandatory for all coaches, athletic directors, and assistant coaches. I think it is imperative that ALL coaches are involved here, faculty and non-faculty, because that holds the entire program accountable. There should be no claims of, "Oh. I did not know that rule."

The one thing that I wish was changed is the rule regarding when a school is forced to forfeit. I know athletic directors and superintendents do not like the idea of having to forfeit no matter what, but that is the only way to get rid of the problem that is plaguing the NCHSAA right now.

If you have an ineligible player, you forfeit. Period.

That is how it should be. That is how it is in our neighbor state of South Carolina. A local football coach who used to coach in South Carolina told me not long ago how the things that were going on here would not be tolerated in South Carolina. I remember during football season when the issues were unfolding in Charlotte, this coach told me how "ineligible is ineligible" in South Carolina.

That is how it should be in North Carolina.

Intent shouldn't matter. The fact is, if you have an ineligible player, you are putting yourself at an advantage. If you have an illegal advantage over schools that are doing things legally - whether its an accident or not - you should be punished. This is going to make schools focus on eligibility more closely, and that should be the ultimate goal. This no tolerance policy would also make students and parents hesitate to break the rules because it will be the entire team that is impacted - not just them.

Of course, there are going to be the selfish who feel they have the right to break the rules and go where ever they want, but I think if we had a no tolerance policy, this would greatly diminish.

Remember, none of these items are written in stone - in fact, they're nothing but suggestions. The NCHSAA's Board of Directors must approve these suggestions for them to be implemented. That would likely happen at the spring meeting in April.

Even though this is not the no tolerance policy I think we should have in North Carolina, it is a step in the right direction.