Varsity Kansas – The Blog » Blog Archive » Brian Butler: Is what he’s doing wrong or not?

Feb. 28, 2009 @ 3:51 p.m. by Casey

By Casey Walkup, KSN Sports

Day after day…week after week, all we hear about in the national media is Brian Butler this…Bryce Brown that, and more Bryce Brown this…. and Brian Butler that. I have set on my thoughts long enough on this situation and now I am going to give my two cents!

In the last few months, Brian Butler has received tons of national publicity, and 99.9% of it hasn’t been attention any of us would like. The media has dialed in on Butler because of what he has done, and is doing for the nation’s top football recruit, Wichita East running back, Bryce Brown.

That raises this question: What exactly has/is Butler doing for Brown? This question is why the national media (ie. NY Times, ESPN.com, SI.com, Rivals.com) has given their attention to the Wichita native. Now I’m not sure if you have noticed, but the majority of national media is negative; some warranted, some maybe not.

With that said, I have known Brian Butler for 18-years. He, like everyone else, is by no means perfect, and he would be the first to admit that, but has always been a respectful and respectable person. Throughout the entire recruiting process with Bryce and Arthur Brown, he has been very candid with me about what he has been or is doing.

Brian wanted to become a mentor/trainer/promoter to area high school football players because he felt there was a wealth of talent in the Wichita area. He wanted to help players out both physically and spiritually, as well as promote players sending out tapes and making calls. He believes the process and transition from high school to college football is one of the most trying and stressful times in a football player’s life, so a player needs to be physically and spiritually prepared to make a deicision that will affect the rest of their life.

This process all started with Butler working out with anywhere from 5 to 8 players at a time, at no charge. About a year ago Butler was up to training about 20 players. At that point in time he decided he wanted to make a living working with local players and help with their physical and spiritual development. So he met with each of the players and their family to let them know he would start charging $18 per workout session, no contract involved and they could decide whether they wanted to train one, two or three days a week. He told me also in those meetings he told the families he didnt want to break their family budget and if they couldnt afford it, they could pay what they were able to afford. I can promise Butler is not the only personal trainer in Wichita who is not a member of a schools coaching staff, that works with area high school athletes for a fee. By no means do I think Butler’s training is necessary for a player to make it to the next level, but charging for personal training is not illegal or a violation of NCAA rules.

I know there have been many reports of Butler telling players he works with not to workout or practice with their school teams. If that is the case, I completely disagree with that practice. When I asked Butler about this he told me “I have never once told a player not to workout with thier team.” He proceeded to tell me, after talking to an area coach about this issue, he learned there were instances when teams were working on the same days Butler was holding workouts and players would tell their coaches “Brian doesnt want me to workout,” to get out of doing their team workouts. But not because that is truthfully what Brian told them.

Brian has also begun charging for his services in helping players with their recruiting process by sending out tapes, raising the funds to take the players he works with to big-time football camps in the summer, and making calls to coaches on their behalf. This is also something high school coaches typically do for their players, granted some do a better job of it than others, but a player doesn’t need Butler for this to get to the next level. I feel this is ultimately a parent’s decision to decide if the training and recruiting resources provided by the high school is sufficient or not.

However, there have been reports of Butler telling players they have received an offer to a school, like Miami, to lure other schools into offering scholarships. If this is in fact true, I think that is a bad and unethical way to approach the recruiting process. Regardless, this too is not illegal or a violation of NCAA rules. There are recruiting agencies out there that charge for the same services that don’t even know their clients on a personal level. These agencies send out questionaires to players, then take the answers from those and send out mass mailings, again not even knowing the skills of these players or knowing them personally.

Obviously this is where the Brown brothers have been so closely linked to Butler in the media.

I feel the biggest mistake Butler has made in this whole process is deciding to charge for Bryce Brown’s recruiting information on his website www.potentialplayers.com. It was the furthest thing from what Butler had been promoting himself as, which was to help market the players he works with and get their information out there. He was scrutinized for this action, and quickly realized this wasn’t a smart move or the right one, and quickly stopped charging for the information. I think that was a great move to say the least.

Bryce Brown has also taken a process, far far from the norm, to decide what college he will attend. Being the top running back and not signing with a college on national signing day is unheard of. But as far as i am concerned, who cares when he signs? If he wasn’t ready to make his decision on signing day, he shouldn’t have had to make it yet. Granted Bryce did commit to Miami sometime back, and his commitment has not been fullfilled, so he should have never committed to “the U” in the first place if he wasn’t completely sure. But again, this is not an NCAA violation.

Now this week, due to all the uproar with what Brian Butler is doing with Bryce Brown, the NCAA has started to investigate exactly what Butler has been doing. Never contacting Butler to question his actions, an NCAA official has been in Wichita the past two days to talk with Northwest lineman Colby Duranleau, a former player Butler worked with, and Brian Byers, Bryce and Arthur Brown’s coach at East. The NCAA wants to see if what Butler has been doing with Brown is legal and has not jeopardized his ameature status. Brian expressed to me his disapointment with Duranleau talking to the NCAA because he feels he has never done anything to violate NCAA rules with Bryce or any players he has worked with.

Northwest coach Weston Schartz also set in on Duranleau’s meeting with the NCAA official on Friday and told me, “the meeting was not negative at all,” and Duranleau by no means had intentions of revealing anything illegal Butler has ever done. Schartz also told me he wasn’t sure what the NCAA is looking for because “nothing Butler is doing is illegal.”

So I started writing this blog with “I am going to give my two cents” and, well, I think my two cents has turned in to two dollars (by the way that’s way better than the stock market will ever give you).

Anyway, I feel I have been pretty close to this situation, pretty knowledgable about what has been going on and followed it very closely. At times I have had my doubts if what Brian Butler and Bryce Brown are doing is right and I have expressed those thoughts throughout. But when it is all said and done, I can’t find anything wrong with what has been done. That I know of, none of what is going on is a violation of NCAA rules. Only time will tell if I am completley correct or if I have been misled (it has happened before in my life). Lastly, as far as I am concerned, if you are the nation’s top recruit and a school wants you bad enough, they will still put a numbered jersey on your back with their logo on it and put you on the field, whether you sign on national signing day or 40 days later!!!

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 3:51 p.m. and is filed under Football, Recruiting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Stan

The NCAA has no jurisdiction over Butler. However, if his arrangement with Brown violates NCAA regulations, BROWN will be the one to suffer the consequences. One thing is for sure…..colleges are very uncomfortable with the situation and it would not surprise me if most backed off recruiting him.
RikRok

It’s not about wrong or not.

It’s about how many blog topics can there be involving Brown and Butler.
For Pete’s Sake

and how many journalists mix their personal feelings with actually trying to go out and find the truth.
anonymous

Casey

Regardless of what Brian says about workouts, he, without a doubt, told me that his workouts took precedence over the teams. Anything other than that is a lie.
shox5912

Here’s the deal: The truth will come out, one way or another. Whether it is tomorrow by the NCAA or 25 years down the road, God only knows. Every person in the world has an opinion of some sort and we are blessed to live in a country where it is ok to express our opinions as we please. If you don’t agree with someone’s thoughts, fine. But instead of taking shots at journalists and whining about the amount of publicity given to this issue, maybe we should all be more concerned this talented young man’s future and praying this issue gets resolved in a manner that will have a positive effect on the rest of his life.
http://varsitykansas.com PanFan

Let’s just get the B.B. issue behind us already…
He just needs to sign, NCAA, Canada, Pee Wee…….I DONT CARE!!!
This issue is beginning to get extremely old. To the point that when he does make up his mind, it just wont matter any more.
Did the connections in Hurricane Country give the NCAA a clue of something possibly being done inappropriately with the recruiting process, or are they just tired of waiting for (Gods decision) like all the rest of us are? OMG,,,,,,,,is this Brown kid the only one in the entire country who has not signed! Ok i have heard the issue that he is taking his visits/time. Is this true or does he and Butler enjoy the solitary limelight they are currently receiving? Come on, we are not all naive, and ya know what, more than likely i wont check the internet, local television news, Radio, newspaper or any other media source on “HIS EMINENCE SIGNING DAY” however, It’s just like that day last november, the media has fallen in love, and we will not be able to escape this historic event . .
^
FBallfn

anonmous i have been around the program for quite some time and listened to Brian talk to 30 + players week after week and never once heard those words.
FBallfn

panfan the media could easily just print the simple truth but that wouldnt sell as many papers or get as many hits on the net. Id like to know where he is going as well but its HIS choice to make and ANY school in the country would and will open its arm to him on March 16. I keep hearing he “NEEDS” to sign ? why does he NEED to sign ? so we all wont have to put up with the updates ? or the circus that follows? what he needs to do is what is best for him whatever that turns out to be not what anyone who is sick of hearing about him wants him to do.

Bryce will sign and become part of the team. He will work his behind off to get on the field and he will make plays as well as get his education and we will all be onto complaining about something else.
Casey Walkup

I really appreciate all of your comments to my post. It did exactly what I wanted, get your responses flowing.

I do have a few questions about some of them though.

Pan – you say the media has fallin in love with this story. First of all I think that it is our job to cover this story, if we didnt not keep up with it we would not be doing our job. Secondly, I can’t recall any of the national story lines about Butler or Brown originating from here in Wichita. I feel it is our job to follow up on reports made elsewhere, and try to keep our viewers/readers informed about if these stories are true or not.

Annonymous – If Brian has told you “his workouts took precedence over the teams” you are a man I would love to interview. Please feel free to email me and set up a time we could talk on camera. I have left coach Byers a voicemail to arrange an interview to give me his thoughts about Butler on camera but I have had no response. If anyone would like to go on camera with me to tell me about why what Butler is doing is wrong, PLEASE CONTACT ME ASAP!!!

Lastly For Pete’s Sake – I am most confused about your post, please explain what you are getting at. As a journalist we are supposed to report facts, and our only sources are people who are willing to give information. At this point in time for the most part Brian Butler and Bryce Brown have been our only sources of information for this story. I do not ever recall giving my opinion on any report I have done on this topic on KSN Sports. But I do have an opinion, this blog allows us to sound off with our opinion, and that is why this is the forum my opinion is posted on, not on a channel 3 newscast or KSN.com.
Jimmy Crack Corn

BB is a clown and a con artist. he has been exposed as a liar….the phantom offer he had advertised from Miami to Huldon Tharp, who knows how many other he has said the same thing about. the local media has done nothing but had an affair with everything he has been associated with…why?? because he is the supposed link to s every athletes d1 scholarship. if so how did the rb for NW get so the offers he has already??? Weston must be really messing that kid up since he’s not with BB. there are plenty on non-profit organizations that were created way before BB, if he is so concerned with helping the youth for their good….why did he not keep his job as a rapper or cell phone sell-man and do the work for the good of the kids on a volunteer basis?? easy, working for the good of our youth and not your selfish needs does not get your name in the paper and you a agent deal.
city league junkie

Remember Ian Knight had like seven offers this time last year and ended up at Hutch Juco. We all wish the best for Robinson, but just cause you get offers, doesnt mean you got a scholarship. Huldon Tharp signed with a BCS school and even if he didnt get offered by Miami, he had numerous other BCS offers. I heard Butler say on the radio that 38 of 38 Wichita Public Schools football players went to JUCO and none earned a full ride scholarship. Is that Butler’s fault too. Did any of the best 38 kids in Wichita have the grades or ability to get a 4 year schollie? If they didnt have the grades than we are definitely looking at the wrong issue. And if they did have the grades then somebody didnt get the job done. I don’t agree with all Butler does, but he does help kids get 4 year scholarships.
FBallfn

jimmycrack HUH ? your entire post is full of incorrect statements but this fourm is for opinions even if they are missguided and foolish.
anonymous

Casey

I will not go on camera, or do an interview. I have nothing to gain by getting my name out there, nor do I wish to be part of this melodrama. I am simply refuting the fact that Brian AND Deangelo both told me that the kids had signed “contracts” and that they are not to be working with the team per the contract.
anonymous

Maybe refuting was the wrong word. I was refuting that they never tell (told) kids not to workout with the team. It most certainly was done.
RikRok

Huldon Tharp had “numerous” other BCS offers?

Is that true?

Thought I read that Knight chose Hutch Juco in hopes of getting additional and more prominent DI offers. It wasn’t a case of simply ending up at Hutch.
For Pete’s Sake

Okay Casey why was the NY Times the lead reporter on this story. Does your personal feeling intermix with going and getting a story? As a reporter do you believe everything someone tells you or do you have the inclination to dig further? Its called investigative journalism, imagine if Woodward and Bernstein would have taken Richard Nixon and his cronies at their word?
For Pete’s Sake

By the way that is not just criticism of you Casey, but everyone in Wichita who practices journalism.
that guy

I hope Bryce Brown ends up playing football at Friends University.

haha
Big B

Casey-You will never win an argument with Pete. He has the most closed mind of anyone who posts on this site. If you make a point he can’t intelligently refute he will just call you a name or insult your family. The man makes unbelieveble assumptions about everything including you. The fact that he will believe a NY Times reporter who spoke to Butler once for 15 minutes over someone like you who has known the man for 18 years just proves how irrational his mind works. I wonder how deep the NY Times reporter dug for his story, but Pete believes evrything he says as gospel!! I really enjoyed your blog and I am on your side on the entire thing. Watch-if he responds to me he will insult me personally. Thanks for the opnion of Butler from someone who actually knows him!!!
NWBB

How come noone does a story on why the high school coaches seem to want so much control of the kids? In fact they are the ones that seem to talk the most crap about these Brian butler or AAU basketball coach types.

Even though the new summer rules state specifically that kids not going to summer workouts cannot have it held against them I have heard coaches myself say they would be upset with the kids that don’t do it. Then act like a big baby and hold it against them,Newsflash to them… noone cares if they do. I am positive that none of my kids will go to one day of it in the summer time. School is over and that time is for families and their kids. And I know if a kid is playing 50 or 60 games in three months of basketball plus working out, that will benifit them a lot more than being up at a high school with a teacher/coach on their vacation time! A high school coach needs to just worry about what their players are doing during their four months coaching them DURING the school year. And let parents do what’s best for their kids during the off season. Which by the way is none of the HS coaches business in the first place. If they don’t want them kids on their team then don’t pick them, I think they get mad because parents no longer have to suck up to them to have them help get their kids a look from colleges or to put in a good word for them. Those days are over as apparently Mr. Butler (and others like him) have proved in football, and all the AAU coaches have proved in basketball.

Sorry about the long rant, just got to thinking that all these people wanna rag on these guys controling what kids do but a lot of coaches (not all) wanna do basically the same thing.
Anonymous

The focus needs to be on what possible contact Butler, as a representative of Brown, had with the CFL and whether or not that contact violated any NCAA amateur elligibility rules. There are very specific rules about that kind of thing. Butler brought up the CFL to the NY Times reporter and then quickly attempted to take it back. It would be shame if Butler has ruined Bryce’s career before he ever got to college.
For Pete’s Sake

You are a pretty much a waste of my time Big B, but here it goes. You are just as closed minded as I am.. Just because your kid was invited to dinner with Butler you think you know everything about the man, but you don’t. The simple fact is if he spent any money on any these kids, bought them dinner, anything it is a violation of NCAA rules and it jeopardizes the amateur eligibility of said student athlete. I am sorry if I hurt feelings in the past Big B, I thought you were grown up and could roll with the punches because you seem to give as good as you get, I guess I was wrong. No more insults from me. Now come back with a new argument unlike your 50 other previous posts and whine about it.
http://varsitykansas.com PanFan

Casey:
Thanks for the reply,,,,,,,,didn’t know you actually read this blog! Honestly, I am flattered.
I know you have a job to do, as we all do, sometimes i just feel the stories are constantly overexagerated.
Believe me, i enjoy your commentary and your committment to what you do.
For Pete’s Sake

One more thing on Butler, if his organization is based partly on religion and a firm belief in the Lord than why would he ask a kid to lie about getting a scholarship offer from the University of Miami. Seems to be kind of immoral to me.
Coach EM

NWBB

The old rules also stated that summer workouts were voluntary. My reading of the new rules is that HS coaches may actually coach their teams in the summer.

Thus, assuming your son plays for Coach Collins, could technically play AAU or MAYB for Coach Collins should he have a team. Believe me that HS coaches for the most part would love to coast in the summer, but I for one would feel like I was not doing right by my team by at least not providing the opportunity.

I have no problems with people trying to better kids in the athletic arena. My problem comes when you are promoting yourself as much as the kids (possibly more) and trying to earn a nickle off of it. As the saying goes “if you wanna coach, get a team”. The caveat comes when coaches fates are in the hands of the same 14-18 year old kids and their performance in those 3-4 months.

Its a tough proposition for all involved, parents, coaches, and kids. Let us not forget that it IS a game, and that the kids should be always what is important. I wish that the business side was not involved as heavily as it is today.
Joseph Pulitzer

Casey, this is one of the best pieces of investigative journalism that I have ever seen. I think you should take your skills to the next level and get a job with the Rocky Mountain News!!!
Hovpen

Anonymous: Nice try at word manulipation, but Butler did not bring up the CFL to the NYT reporter. It was brought up be the reporter and was as a leading question. Butler mearly gave him the response he wanted to slant his story into what he wanted. I’m willing to bet the same was done with the other individuals this reporter interviewed. Any experienced reporter can get you to answer a series of questions and slant your answers into whatever type of story they want to print.

It is nice that if this NCAA guy actually does his job right, we should know for sure one way or another if Brian is on the up and up. As I’ve said many times, I’ve never seen anything shady in my dealings with him. I’m sure the three or four people who subscribed to his web site made him quite rich.

Casey: Big B is correct. There is no way you can win with Peter. He has a one track mind and all who oppose him are trash or on the take.

Why do I even respond to these idiots. I don’t work for the Eagle and it doesn’t make any difference to me if their advertisers get all these hits or not. :)
For Pete’s Sake

And all those who oppose Brian Butler are haters right Hovpen? And we do know why you respond to us idiots on this blog…maybe if you put yourself on here enough maybe we will go to your website right? Did you and Butler take the same marketing classes at Butler County?

As for your take on the NYT writer, no wonder people outside the state of Kansas think the citizens of this fine state are a bunch of Wizard of Oz rubes, Brian Butler and the others can’t figure out they are answering misleading questions and being manipulated by the big city reporter. I love it that this is how all of Butler’s supporters defend the man. It makes him look like a big fool, and those that defend him in this way even more foolish.
Hovpen

See Casey, I rest my case.
For Pete’s Sake

Everybody knows where I stand Hovpen they don’t have to pay money to get it. They can find it right here. If you think I called you a piece of trash so be it. If you don’t like my opinion don’t read it, just like I don’t go to your site and read whatever uninteresting thing you have to say. I respect the fact that you have to suck up to Butler to get access to the information on his athletes, hey just come out and say it. Just don’t pretend you have an unbiased opinion because you don’t. And I don’t really care what Casey Walkup says either, he is a great news/sports reader and a darn fine baseball player in my opinion.
Casey Walkup

Pete – I find it very entertaining you are comparing a story about a high school football player and his trainer/mentor to “Water Gate.”

To answer your question as to why a NY Times reporter broke this story. Someone within the NCAA tipped him off as to what was going to take place, and he also wanted to do yet another negative story. (when you get a chance read the NY Times, most of their stories have a negative angle.)

No my personal opinion doesn’t ever conflict with me doing a story. Unfortunately in the television industry, I have to have a talking head on camera answering questions. I can not say so and so said this and so and so said that, if i were a columnist yeah my opinion may get in the way of my stories. If you watch a television story on our sportscast you will see they are not reporter driven, they are subject driven.

As for investigative reporting, to be honest I held about a 25 minute interview with Brian Butler on signing day. I really wanted to use that interview for a story, but I didnt have two sides of the story so all it would have been was a pro Brian Butler story with no opposition. I tried to talk with Brian Byers, left him voicemails and never had a response, therefore I had no story. Also, unfortunatley most television sports departments dont have the resources to do investigative sports reports. Take for instance our sports department, we have a deparment of three. We have to cover high school sports, college sports, pro sports and whatever else may be going on around the area. Please keep in mind when I say cover, I mean go get the video, write every word of a sportscast, as well as set up stories.

I am not sure if you noticed but KSN was the only sportscast on Friday night that had comments from both Brian Butler and Weston Schartz, who was present for the meeting with the NCAA. Both of the other stations took information straight from the NY Times. If you know Weston at all you will know he is a man that speaks his mind, when he says he and his player had nothing to accuse Butler of doing illegal activities with his players, I have to believe he means it. especially when several of his players have worked with Butler.

Also keep in mind my blog, that included my personal opinions, was not meant to be journalistic. It was my opinion. I am sorry if you don’t agree with it.

Pan – Thanks!!!

Anonymus – If they are telling players to miss team workouts, I do not agree with practice either. But there is only one way to stop that from happening, don’t play that player. If the kid wants to play he will quickly learn who determines playing time. But I think coaches are more concerned about having their best athletes on the field; therefore, benching one of their best players won’t ever happen. But they do have that option. Oh yeah and would still love to interview you on camera :)
For Pete’s Sake

Casey,

Thank you for taking the time for explaining that to me. I took your blog opinion and confused it with news reporting which I should not have done and I can admit to making a mistake, no matter what these other jerks say. I would like the NCAA to do the investigation and if they don’t find anything I will promise all of those people that defend Butler that I will be the first one on this blog to offer my apologies. I sincerely offer you my apologies for questioning your integerity. With that being said, the NCAA must have a reason to investigate him.

By the way, I think my usage of Watergate was more a point on investigative journalism and reporters needing to ask the hard questions, not necessarily a comparison between this situation and an act by the Nixon administration and the subsequent cover-up that brought down a president.
Casey Walkup

See guys Pete is not so bad after all!!!! :)

Pete I agree with you, the NCAA doesn’t just do investigations without having possible infractions in mind. Now with that said if they dont find anything, I would guess they would never come out a say “Brian Butler is completely legit.”

But from what I know, and not saying I know everything they do, but i dont see what they can get him for. My guess is they are worried about Bryce getting paid from the site (which i dont think any money was made), and the CFL mention.

Take it for what it is worth but I dont see the CFL being a place Bryce would want to go. Brian told me the whole CFL thing was brought up by the reporter. The reporter started asking him about the CFL, and Brian said yeah if the CFL is willing to offer Bryce $4-5 million to play in the league… then we would consider it. I have to be honest I think we would all listen if they were offering that money, who wouldn’t? But to my knowlege, the CFL salary cap per team is about $4-5 million. So it would never happen.

Thanks for the apology, by all means accepted!!! But I will have to admit, you are a stirrer. :)
For Pete’s Sake

The CFL thing was a trap that he should have never fallen for. The Huldon Tharp phantom scholarship offer is more disturbing if it is true, and while not illegal by the NCAA standards it is certainly unethical in my opinion. Bryce just needs to decide on a school and go and let his play speak for him not Butler. This whole recruitment has been a mess, and compare it with Terrelle Pryor’s from last year it is way messier. The only difference is Brian Butler.

From perusing online newspaper columns and I always take what I read with a grain of salt (which the NYT only enhanced my doubts about the guy) a lot of college coaches are nervous about Brian Butler and his players. Dave Sittler in his Tulsa World column pretty much said the OU coaching staff has “lost” Butler’s number. I shrug at that because they did sign Jaydan Bird, whether Butler had anything to do with that or not. However, this all could have a negative impact on his clients.

As for the “stirrer” comment I guess you are right, but if everybody mindlessly followed FBallfn and Big B’s thinking this site would be really boring. I have been called worse on here than a stirrer.
Hinds57

Pete asked a very good question earlier in this post. I would love to see an answer from Fbfan, BigB, or anyone else.
If PP has such high standards, why are players told to lie about fictional offers?
I just thought it was a very good question and I’m sure very hard to answer. Which is why there have been no responses.

HMMMMM..
RikRok

There are responses because I doubt anybody here can answer THAT question.

Reasonable question, wrong venue.
RikRok

Whoops, make that “no responses.”
that guy

did i mention that i hope Bryce Brown ends up playing football @ Friends!!!

and i hope he doesnt start!
For Pete’s Sake

I wouldn’t worry about it Hinds57 they wouldn’t give you a straight answer or they would have another excuse justifying Butler’s behavior, just as they will have one if the NCAA finds anything inappropriate in Butler’s dealings. Remember you are dealing with a cult of personality and his supporters know him so that means they will believe whatever he tells them, no questions asked.

That Guy:

Friends has standards, I don’t think they would want all the trouble.
Schmakey

Casey, I think you are getting to the heart of the matter in all of this mess, that what Butler is doing is currently not against NCAA rules. But, I would throw out a prediction that after watching this mess happen, the NCAA will be changing those rules again to put a stop to some of it. But what is truly wrong in this whole situation is that Butler is fighting Wichita football coaches. Does he really not know what the practice schedules are for the kids he is training? Wouldn’t that be a responsible thing to do to help these kids? Instead, as you suggest, these kids should be benched for missing team practice for their personal workout. Is that for the good of the kid? It wouldn’t surprise me that Bulter has been shopping himself to high schools for an assistant coaching job. To me, this is what leaves a bad taste for everyone. I don’t hear of Gehr’s hitting clinics conflicting with baseball practices.

Just my opinion.
John

How will the Brian Butler thing affect future Wichita football recruits? Will they all be regarded as overrated or just the ones that Butler trains and “mentors”?
putmein

Who seriously believes that Arthur Brown, Bryce Brown or Jayden Bird needed a mentor/trainingr/spiritual leader/handler/pimp like Brian Butler? I don’t think Miami or OU’s offer was based on what Butler did for them. It will be real interesting to see what happens to his organization after their departure. I heard that one QB (name to be with held) was being promoted by Butler as the best 100 at the position in the country. He didn’t recieve one offer from anyone… jucos included. Guess they can see through his ruse as well.
FBallfn

Hinds there are no responses to many of these silly missinformed statements on here because it is simply a waste of time. The one that made me laugh the most was that OU lost his phone number or that he wants to coach. It would seriously take all day to correct all the crazy statements made about Brian. oh Pete dont want to ruin your day but there are players from Friends that train with Brian.lol yall are so hungry to make this guy out to be dirty its laughable. Keep shooting boys maybe you will get lucky and see Brain jaywalking or going 40 in a 35.lol
that guy

its not us that will catch him in the wrong….the investigators of the NCAA will take care of that for us..

i heard they patrol the streets too. so the jaywalking and the speeding will be taken care of by them also!
FBallfn

lol knowing the NCAA you might be right. this is and will be a nonissue other than fueling blog talk.
putmein

How do you answer for the ethical/morally upstanding handler who lied (and continues to lie) to see if he could get offers for his kids? He’s in it for the money, plain and simple.
For Pete’s Sake

Just repeating what Dave Sittler of the Tulsa World wrote FBallfn. You can’t answer that question can about Butler’s reconciling his ethics with his preaching can you. I kind of know you would blow it off, just like everything else that Butler does. Same old story with you, seeing what you want to see and believe. Unless you are holding his hand 24/7 you don’t know what he does, or do you take his words at face value. Like Casey pointed out, I sure hope he didn’t share any of that money with Bryce or his eligibility will come into question.
jay hawk

How do you think it looks for Kansas kids that the number 1 recruit in the nation has not only not signed yet but is one of the top stories on rivals is about the NCAA looking into Brown’s mentor? Not to mention all the other rival stories lately! Or that this has been in the New Yorks times twice in February and sporting news! Does Mr. Butler think this is the way to grow his business?
For Pete’s Sake

Marketing 101….Controversy Creates Cash.
Coach EM

First an NCAA investigation into a quesa celebrity, and now reports that Belichek might not have been on the up and up with a trade for Matt Casell.

What is this world coming to, I never thought Belichek was a rule breaker??
football67

city league junkie says…if Brian Butler said that out of 38 city league seniors 38 signed with JUCO’s then he is incorrect. Nic Ferrar from NW received a 4 year scholarship with Benedictine College. Other’s had scholarship offers, but not enough to cover the majority of costs. Butler just throws crap out there!
For Pete’s Sake

Maybe Belichek is Butler’s hero.
Coach EM

football67

He also left off Joe Brown who signed with Colorado State. Reality is 99% perception.
FBallfn

usd 259 coach. partial is not full ride and you are missing the bigger point .
FBallfn

jay hawk . “how this looks for Kansas kids ” Do you have any idea how Kansas football players are looked upon now ? I promise you the kids coming out of Potential Players can play and know how to work and they ARE whats going to change how schools look at “Kansas Kids ” ! Wake up people Kansas is an afterthought when it comes to recruiting in many peoples minds its Brians program and these kids that will change that. We have kids who can play in this state and they should have the chance to compete on a national level.
dumazxposer

I remember a team in the late seventies that had at least six guys go D1 out of three classes. I don’t recall seeing baby Butler toddling around anywhere in his dirty diapers and they all had no problem getting scholarships…no mis-representing offers…no skipping team practices…no crunked up street agent…just plain ol’ hard work and performance!
For Pete’s Sake

Oh man FBallfn, you talk about me twisting words and being able to go into politics. You should be Obama’s press secretary because you certainly can feed the people the b.s. You might even get 99% of the population on board with his Porkulus spending program. Kansas kids could play football and they got scholarships even before Butler learned how to freestyle. You certainly are a master propagandist, and you aren’t bad at ducking questions either. You should definitely apply. The address is: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington D.C. 20500. Make sure you mark it attention Rahm Emanuel.
putmein

If you want to read my post, it will cost $9.00 a month…

Sincerely,
Brian Butler
For Pete’s Sake

Why pay, you can read what FBallfn writes and get Brian’s thoughts for free.
Cardfan

Juco’s do not and cannot give out “Full Rides”. No person can get these for anyone since they do not happen. What I see from reading many of these posts is that people want credit for what these kids earn/get. A college recruits talent. They do not care where you play, who you play for, who your parents are, who trained you. They look at upside and can you help them win. The Browns will go where they would have based on their ability not who “mentored” them. There have been Kansans go on and play at major out of state universities. There will be many more in the future. Some Mr. Butler will train but some will go through the old process of coach and parents doing the leg work. I do have a couple of issues with this process and how it has unfolded.
1. Silence of Coach Byers. I think that speaks loudly for how this situation went. I still believe that most HS coaches do it for the right reasons and his silence throws a red flag up on how this affected the program at East.
2. Tharp/Miami issue. Once again marketing is one thing but having kids lie is another.
3. Use of the Miami commitment. It was stated on a local radio show by Butler why KU was not in the running for Brown. Butler said that after Brown committed to Miami that many schools backed off including KU. Butler said that they found out what schools were really interested in Brown after he committed. I have been around a few athletes that have committed usually when they say they are going they do. Using this commitment as a ploy to see who was really interested in Brown just leaves a bad taste to me. How is Miami suppose to react to being leveraged? I applaud KU for having the ability to honor what they felt were the players wishes, since he said he was going to go to Miami.
4. Ultimately the player will have to PLAY. Has this all impacted that? Why not get this over with and get to campus like most top level recruits? After many years of pursuit Brown should be able to make an educated choice. I understand that staffs change and coaches move around. But most of that is done this time of year.

Thanks

CFan
Big B

I am so looking forward to Pete’s apology. I wonder though if the NCAA has to say he is LEGIT or if they just don’t say anything will that be enough to warrant an apology. I’m still not sure what NCAA violations everyone thinks he has done to make everyone so suspicious. Can someone please enlighten me as to what NCAA rules you think he has broken! Also do you have proof or are you just throwing out some sort of gossip?
Hinds57

Still no answer to Pete’s question.
Reading and Writing

Big B maybe you should share with Bryce and Butler your knowledge of the dictionary and explain what commitment means it is obvious they don’t understand the word. If he is cleared of ALL wrong doing I will apologize to him. I hope he is familiar with all the NCAA rules, because the book is long and intricate. Trust me the NCAA isn’t investigating for the heck of it. But I guess in your mind they are just out to get him like the NY Times and every other newspaper in the country. Poor Brian he is a victim of a witchhunt.

Hinds57
They are not going to answer that question. They can’t reconcile what they think is the truth even though it is slapping in the face, Brian Butler is a hypocrite, you don’t preach the word of God to a kid and then turn around ask him to lie. And that is the truth.
that guy

Big B:

i dont think anybody on here needs to answer your question. The NCAA is conducting the investigation on their own. I doubt someone said , “Hey guys i was reading this local blog in wichita kansas and they are all talking about this guy and they are suspecting him of breaking NCAA rules…I think we need to get on this ASAP”

I highly doubt this is how the NCAA works!
For Pete’s Sake

Don’t be fooled that guy, it is all a vendetta against Brian, a conspiracy I say, all generated by local fanatics who have no clue what the man is really like. We just need to get to know him.
For Pete’s Sake

An nice little blurb on Blake Bell is featured in the Recruitnik in Sporting News Today. It says that college coaches like Bell’s size and speed. Blake is quoted as saying, “The college coaches, when I talk to them, they say they really like the film they’ve seen of me. I had four or five really great receivers who helped me out a lot, and our coaches did a great job putting the film together and stuff.”

First off, what a great and humble kid. Second, I guess some coaches can put together film without the help of Brian Butler.
that guy

great response for such a young athlete
For Pete’s Sake

Obviously he didn’t go to the same media relations school as Brian Butler.
NCAA rules

NCAA Rule
May a Recruiting/scouting service call NCAA coaches to give them information on high schhol athletes?
answer: No. it is not permissible for NCAA coaches to recive verbal information from recruiting/scouting service, only published services.
So he is breaking the rules, look at the bylaws.
“Brian has also begun charging for his services in helping players with their recruiting process by sending out tapes, raising the funds to take the players he works with to big-time football camps in the summer, and making calls to coaches on their behalf.”
what do you think

Do you think that if the NCAA finds Butler guilty breaking the rules that kids such as Huldon Tharp, Riley Spencer, Kevin Young, Jayden Byrd or Bryce Brown could lose their scholarship offers? Those are just the ones I can think of that he works with that have D-1 scholarships.
For Pete’s Sake

If he provided any meals without reimbursement he is in violation of the NCAA rules. I hope Bryce helped pick up the tab down in Louisiana for more than one reason, I am sure Brian’s is much higher
For Pete’s Sake

I don’t think they would lose their scholarships but the NCAA could suspend them from games which would be tragic.
what do you think

If NCAA rules is correct could the coaches be in trouble for talking to Butler snce he is a recruiting service verbally instead of using published services? Boy if a college coach got in trouble for this PP might have a bleak future!
For Pete’s Sake

Just watch FBallfn will come on here in a little bit and call us fools and say we are misinformed and spout his normal spiel trying to make us believe Butler is a prince among men. Same old same old.
Hovpen

putmein, can you tell us what quarterback BB was training and promoting as one of the top 100 in the country that didn’t even get an offer. I’m real curious about that one and wondering if you just made it up.
that guy

lol you would hovvy!!!!!!!

any more baseball updates from our locals in division 1?
FBallfn

ya Pete you are correct on that.(fools) never said he was a prince but he is very good at what he does! The results will speak for themsleves in the next few years. Im sure by tomorrow you will have some more good stories to tell . on this ? that u and hinds keep chirpin about i have answered several times nobody was told to lie and we went threw all this last week didnt we ! but go ahead and hang your hat on it if you like. on the film issue i said many or most and Shuckman does the best job in the city by far.
For Pete’s Sake

I guess the University of Miami is lying then. I can’t wait for your defense of the man when the NCAA busts him, I bet they will be lying too. Everybody is lying about Brian because he is a good honest Christian. bah.
Hovpen

Well, Petrich dropped his average to just over 500 over the weekend, but he is still hitting cleanup for a top 5 ranked team. Bohanan continued his hitting streak and has hit in his last 17 of 18 games, Applegate got a win against San Deigo State, Cooper won Sunday, and we’ll see how Banwart does later today. Haven’t seen on Milleville yet.

I think our locals, and even athletes from the rest of KS are doing very well at the D-1 level so far this season.

BTW, Conner Sinclair won his fourth straight as a pitcher for Butler yesterday.

I just want to know what quarterback I missed out on here.
Hovpen

BTW guys, there is an article on the Miami Herald worth reading today on Arthur. You might note some of the comments on it also.
itsjosh2u

He,s just waiting for it to stop raining in oregon… Go Ducks…..
FBallfn

I didnt say the U was lieing either did i ? We have went over the “offer” “nonoffer” language and like i said its just your latest attempt to hope something is up. Pete you could talk to people who know whats really going on, but then you wouldnt be able to flap your chops about something you know knowing about. Believe me when i say you have completely shot anyone on here ever taking you even close to serious. I get as many comments from people about what an idiot you are as i do questions about Brian and whats really going on. You dont really bother me is what shocks them .lol
David

Nowhere in this article did you mention that he’s a former felon (for something as dishonest as forgery!), something that he admits. Because you don’t address that, its hard to take your opinion seriously. Just because you’ve talked to the guy on occasion doesn’t mean you have some great insight into whether or not he’s doing the right thing.
For Pete’s Sake

If the Potential Loser crowd doesn’t take me seriously I not going to cry over it FBallfn. I get the same thing about you from the people I talk to you, except they actually think something romantic is going on between you and Butler. The man is a hypocrite, and you don’t personally need to know him to draw that conclusion. I don’t think anybody takes you serious on here (except for Big B, but nobody takes him serious either) because your a complete shill for the guy, so I guess that makes us even huh? Here is a question you can answer, do you wash and wax his car too?
Mike Jones

Hey I have an idea for you “For Pete’s Sake” how about you stop commenting on this random ass blog for 10 minutes and get a life.
For Pete’s Sake

I have a better idea for you MIke Jones get a better name. I hope your mom didn’t name you that because it is totally unoriginal. Look at you, you are either just up at 1:00 in the morning commenting on me getting a life or you are at work stealing from your bosses while you should be doing something productive.
that guy

mike jones.. who? mike jones.. who? mike jones..who?
he’s the one and only & you cant clone him…he’s got a lot of haters and a lot of homies!

and he stays flossing on that candy paint!
Coach EM

Maybe I need to talk to him. He could give me some pointers. My dentist says I need to “floss” better.
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