The Bernstein Brief: Get Tim Beckman Away From College Football Players

By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist

(CBS) North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora must really like Tim Beckman. Why he does is anyone's guess.

Fedora added Beckman as a volunteer assistant despite the latter's firing by Illinois just before the start of the 2015 season for abusing his players both physically and mentally. Fedora essentially claimed none of it happened, telling the News & Observer, "I don't believe everything I read. I know Tim I know his side of the story."

So the independently commissioned investigation that confirmed the alleged abuses by Beckman doesn't exist in Feedora's world, and he sees nothing wrong with having Beckman -- not just a bad guy but also a notably bad coach -- as part of his program.

By rule, volunteer coaches in college football can't interact with players. That should apply to Tim Beckman no matter where he is or what title he holds.

Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.