When Marcus Vick was at Virginia Tech, his brother Michael Vick was making tens of millions of dollars in the NFL. Being his brother, Marcus was showered with luxury cars, jewelry and housing. How is this not impermissible benefits? Because they share blood? And if so, how much blood is enough? What if it was a step dad who was loaded? Is he allowed to give you all the money you want as a student athlete? What about a family friend? A friend of your parent who was friends with the family before you were born? Is he allowed to shower you with gifts?    How detached from the athlete does the person have to be for it be considered “impermissible benefits”????

I think public sentiment has shifted to where most think the rules should be changed so all schools are allowed to offer such benefits to the best of their ability. I also think it's worth noting that, after being hammered by the FHSAA, The First Academy has continued recruiting and simply scheduled an extremely ambitious national schedule, while forgetting about the watered down FHSAA playoffs. We're going to see more programs go this route. Eventually, there will be enough such programs that a new league, operating under an entirely different (and capitalist!) set of rules, is formed and will feature the top programs. This will bring about the "separate playoffs for schools who recruit" idea many here have clamored for. Again, at the root of all of this is the fact that big time, for-profit sports programs have grown beyond what school systems are equipped to deal with. The schools need to see their way out of big time sports. And the big time sports can market themselves on a regional/geographic basis instead of the old "cheer for the alma mater" approach. 

yep, see my post below yours and above this one...

As I understand it, Teddy is in trouble, not because he donated out of his own pocket, but because he gave it directly to the football program. The powers that be wanted that money to go to the school admin and/or Dade county schools. And those entities then would distribute equal shares of that money across the entire school and/or district (after squandering a large share for themselves). The spirit or ideology driving that process is "equity", which, by an overwhelmingly gaping margin, is THE biggest focal point of education today. This isn't a secret, or a "conspiracy theory" : they tell us all this themselves. Things like learning to read, do math, operate a business etc are all tertiary in importance now. Primarily and secondarily, the focus is "equity". From Kindergarten through PHD programs in ALL fields (yes, including quantum physics). And, "equity" is measured in outcomes: only when everyone- to borrow the phrase of the former Vice President- ends up in the same place with the same stuff will we have "equity".  When Teddy opens up his wallet and gives to the football program, the refrain of "equity" monsters is "but what about the girls tennis team" or "what about the football program at Miami Springs?" Teddy's helping MNW football exclusively means unequal or "inequitable" outcomes, and this is sharply opposed in education at all levels today. When Northwestern beat Jackson 48-6 last year, the "equity" monsters in education likely spiraled into deep depression. Pooling the gate among all schools in a district, instead of keeping it between the teams who actually played, is an example of "equity" ideology fouling things up. Like you said, the top few programs end up propping up the moribund programs, a la "Weekend at Bernies". The number one philosopher in academia and within the "equity" movement is Karl Marx. There's always been semantic games played around socialism/communism/Leninism/Marxism/Maoism. What they all have in common is hatred for capitalism and worship of Marx. And Marx conceded that socialism inevitably leads to communism. The ultimate, overarching goal, is the abolition of the state into a classless society free of private property, international borders, police, jails and, yes, market-based economies. Socialism is understood to be a transitionary phase to communism which often appeals to dimwits. To be an admin in a public school system, one must go through extensive graduate level education programming. These programs are currently DOMINATED by socialists/communists/Marxists...throughout academia everywhere in the world. Therefore, we can be certain that the overwhelming majority of administrators witin Dade County schools are socialists/communists/Marxists. That's what Teddy is running up against. The school and district want all money and benefits distributed equally and Teddy didn't play by those rules.

because they are cheating.  They should suspend the entire program and not allow them in the playoffs for two years.  It's one thing to give a kid a ride home from practice that lives in your zone and its another to be paying for rides for kids that don't live in your zone and wouldn't be coming to your school if you were not paying for them to get there.  This was the pattern and not just a random occurrence.  The physical therapy and paying for personal training is also enticement.  There is a reason they got 60 recruits errrr transfers over the last two years.  The school suspended him because the fhsaa is about to hammer them.  Bridgewater will get a minimum 6 games suspension and a $5k fine from the fhsaa.  The next time he will be suspended from ever coaching in Florida.  The school is facing harsh penalties and they are trying to avoid them.   The other stuff pride packs, team meals, field paint, camps could have been paid for by the school.  He could have just donated the money to the school and paid for it.  I'm not sure how to feel in this case.  I'm sure Teddy loves Northwestern and loves those kids but he was either oblivious to the rules or didn't care to follow them.