VIDEO: Hurtt grateful for Louisvilles support
Louisville assistant coach Clint Hurtt spoke with reporters after practice Tuesday night. Hurtt received a two-year show cause order from the NCAA for his involvement in the scandal at Miami.
Hurtt opened the post-practice press interview with a prepared statement: "I apologize to the University of Miami for my involvement in this matter. Obviously it's my alma mater, and I love that university and always will. I'm always going to be forever grateful. For my role in this, I apologize to the University of Louisville and our fans and everyone who supports our program for the negative vibe that it's brought here.
"At the same time, I'm very appreciative of and grateful to Tom Jurich and Charlie Strong and President (James) Ramsey for their unwavering support throughout this entire process.
"Although I'm not happy about what the obvious outcome was, I do believe you should be held accountable for your actions. There are things obviously that I admitted to. I'm not going to go into great deal about that, but I admit the mistakes I made, and I definitely will take accountability for those actions as I believe people should."
Hurtt said he disagreed with the NCAA's finding that he misled investigators in a June interview.
"Yes, I do. I went out and was truthful about what I said," Hurtt said. "Obviously there was some disagreement, and that's fine. But I was truthful from the get-go. I didn't change my story. My whole purpose going into this was to be truthful and get everything off my back. I know I made mistakes, and I wasn't trying to hide anything and was willing to live with any repercussions that came with it. But the decision that they made, I have to respect it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it. It doesn't mean I have to agree with it."
Hurtt will continue at Louisville as the defensive line coach. He is no longer the Recruiting Coordinator or Associate Head Coach.
He will be required to attend seminars on NCAA compliance, he'll have to meet with the NCAA every six months, he is restricted from off-campus recruiting until the end of the 2014 academic year and his pay is frozen, with no raises or bonuses until the end of his show cause order in 2015 (a hit of likely $150-200,000).
Despite the restrictions and sanctions, Hurtt said he feels grateful to Charlie Strong and UofL Vice President for athletics Tom Jurich for supporting him through this process.
"That feels great, and you love the support," Hurtt said. "I don't believe some mistakes in life should judge anyone's character, no matter who it is. Everyone makes mistakes. As long as you're willing to own up to them and face the accountability that happens to come with it, I think everybody should be forgiven and move on and have second opportunities.
"So I definitely appreciate (Jurich's) support and everyone's support who is here. It's been unwavering. It's been incredible. I appreciate it all. It's been a family, and they've loved me up through this entire situation. I'll be forever grateful."