Todd McNair loses lawsuit against NCAA, it’s time for USC to move on

Todd McNair lost his defamation lawsuit against the NCAA on Monday. With a moral victory already in hand, it’s officially time for USC to move on.

On Monday, the jury tasked with deciding whether or not the NCAA defamed former USC running backs coach Todd McNair finally made their ruling. They sided with the NCAA.

At least, the jury ruled in favor of the NCAA, determining that McNair’s legal team had not reached the high burden of proof necessary to award him the millions of dollars in damages he sought.

The ruling was a victory for the NCAA’s pocket books, but it wasn’t a victory for the NCAA, or a loss for USC.

The trial which had been delayed for years stretched on for three weeks. A juror was dismissed because they couldn’t keep awake. Then deliberations themselves were fraught with complications.

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Days in, the jury was deadlocked at 8-4. Then a juror expressed concern over the language barrier. Though they spoke English, technical terms and jargon made it difficult for them. When they were replaced by an alternate, the jury had to start deliberations from scratch.

The trouble all along with the McNair trial is how it could only say so much about the NCAA and USC. When communication between Committee on Infractions members cropped up during discovery, it confirmed what many fans had already come to believe: That the NCAA went out of their way to level harsher-than-warranted penalties against the Trojans.

McNair’s quest for damages from the NCAA was always bound to be peripheral to those words in black and white. Though legally it would always be difficult to prove defamation, anyone who cared enough to look could see how the USC case had been mishandled.

Monday’s ruling doesn’t mean the NCAA acted properly in the way they went about sanctioning USC. It simply reflects the tough legal standards in play.

That’s unfortunate for McNair. It’s also unfortunate for USC in a sense. The Trojans won’t get the benefit of headlines proclaiming McNair’s victory over the NCAA.

But as far as moral victories go, USC already go theirs. Discovery in the lead up to trial dredged up damning emails which showed the NCAA’s bad faith, mismanagement and incompetence.

Those emails revealed how particular members had preconceived biases against USC and how others were rabid in their desire to see USC punished. They acknowledged how the NCAA had botched interviews and the investigation. They showed the shaky ground on which the NCAA’s case against USC rested.

“I don’t think the NCAA should come away thinking that they did something right,” the jury foreman said after the verdict had been read, via Keely Eure of USCFootball.com. They noted that having read the transcript of the NCAA’s interview with Lloyd Lake, the wannabe sports agent who allegedly provided benefits to Bush and his family, they did not find him credible.

That will have to be enough for Trojan fans still frustrated over the way USC’s sanctions were handled.

Reggie Bush last played for USC in 2006. It took until 2018 for what seems like the final chapter in the story to be written. The Trojans have passed through sanctions and are now back on even footing. It’s time to move on.