The “punishment” is mostly in the realm of justice. However those student athletes who leave will compete against those who have already earned spots on other teams and some may never play football again.
In addition taking away the victories from ‘98 to ‘11 harms the student athletes and student body more than a dead coach. It was the football team that suffered the physical pain of preparing and playing those games, not the coaching staff and athletic department.
No matter what the NCAA does, it cannot change history as holocaust deniers, moon landing deniers, and 9/11 denies have tried. Withdraw the victories penalties and put an astrick next to JoePa’s name. He is the winningest coach in division 1 history and until someone surpasses him he will remain so no matter how they monkey with the record books.
