Rick Neuheisel should be in business

Editor's note: Business Reform Magazine provides real biblical answers for real business issues. To visit us, click here.

Until this past week, Rick Neuheisel was the head football coach at the University of Washington. He wasn't fired for poor performance, in fact, he took the Huskies to their first Rose Bowl championship in nearly 10 years, and his teams finished among the top 10 three out of the eight years he was a head coach. No, Rick Neuheisel was fired for breaking the rules of the game. Despite being a clear violation of NCAA rules, Neuheisel had bet (and won) thousands of dollars on college sports. His defense? He claims that he didn't think the kind of bets he was making counted, and that he'd gotten permission from the auditors, oops, I mean school officials before placing the bets. This is sounding a bit too much like the business world in which we live.

TRENDING: Employee fired for having Parler and Gab social-media accounts

This isn't the first time Coach Neuheisel had gotten into trouble. While coaching at the University of Colorado, Neuheisel violated NCAA recruiting rules more than 50 times. The school was punished, and the coach moved on to Washington. Early this year, the American Football Coaches Association censured Neuheisel for demonstrating a lack of remorse for those violations. Apparently, the coach is more interested in serving his own interests than in showing respect for the authorities who have given him the opportunity to participate in the sport.

Unfortunately, Neuheisel's failures aren't limited to sticking to the rules of NCAA sports. The coach got into hot water in February when he lied to his employer and to the world. Apparently, the NFL's San Francisco 49ers interviewed Neuheisel for their head coaching job. Neither the team nor the coach followed proper etiquette by asking permission of University of Washington officials, and when he was questioned about it, Neuheisel outright lied.

One of these days, this man may figure out that you reap what you sow.

But, then again, that's a lesson that we all need to learn, and relearn, and relearn. My sins may not make the headlines in Sports Illustrated, but they are just as deadly and condemning as the coach's. I'm thankful that God has revealed to me that the only pardon that matters is the one He's given me through His Son.

Even in this world, Rick Neuheisel would do well to learn a little about respecting authority, showing remorse and repentance when that authority is violated, and demonstrating humility.

RELATED: Making decisions that facilitate success

But such challenges are not the unique domain of sports figures. This past week's headlines include the following:

??????

Dynegy trio accused of 'alchemy'

??????

Guidant pleads guilty to defect cover-ups

??????Mobil's man in Kazakhstan admits fraud

??????Ex-Network Associates exec guilty

??????SEC might sue two former Lucent officials

??????Congress to subpoena HealthSouth

??????MCI officers quit after WorldCom revelations

??????U.S. Attorney, SEC Probe Fannie Mae

??????ImClone's Waksal gets more than 7 years in prison

??????Northrop seen paying $111 mln to settle suit

??????Boeing: workers acted improperly in bid

??????Top New York Times editors step down

??????Former executive admits to Rite Aid charge

??????PeopleSoft calls Oracle bid atrocious

I believe Rick Neuheisel would fit right in with our crowd.

Ivan Meisel, in his ESPN.com column praising the coach made this accurate comparison: "If Bill Clinton had been a football coach, he would have blond hair, play the guitar and work in Seattle." I think it would be just as accurate to replace the name "Bill Clinton" there with "Richard Scrushy" or "Bernie Ebbers" or "Sam Waksal."

And there, but for the grace of God, go I.

Clickhereto contact Noah.