Dave Bliss 'Exclusive' with Star-Telegram

[MrMustang1965]

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Dave Bliss pilots his Jeep Cherokee with Colorado plates over an undulating road that appears to have been shaved of tree and stubble by a giant straight razor.

At the peak of a rise, he points out in the distance a bend of the Missouri River where the Lewis & Clark Expedition first explored and mapped the Great Northwest on the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Here, too, part of the expedition lost its enthusiasm for adventure and turned back in one of the boats, never to be heard from again.

Ironically, it is also here that Bliss emerges from two years of relative obscurity as the new coach of the Dakota Wizards of the Continental Basketball Association.

In an at-times emotional 90-minute interview with the Star-Telegram earlier this week in a Bismarck hotel room, Bliss appeared to have regained some of his once-characteristic vibrant energy, though he several times had to pause to regain his composure.

He said he remains both humiliated and remorseful and in search of, if not complete absolution, forgiveness for his actions and violations of trust that brought the Baylor men's basketball program to the precipice of the NCAA's death penalty.

Not an hour goes by, he said, that he does not think about and agonize over his transgressions that involved what he characterized as one bad decision compounded by another, leading him to become someone he said is almost unrecognizable in retrospect.

"I don't know if I can ever explain," Bliss confessed. "[Other than] to just tell people that I lost my mind for a period of time.

"I've got to let people know that I feel as badly as I can feel about it and that there are some things I can never make up for. But there are some things at least I can try to be [in the future]. For me to try to work my way back is an intention to try to help those that I have hurt the most."

He said he knows that simply apologizing and expressing remorse won't change the minds of those who regard him with disgust.

But he said he hopes he can regain some of the trust he violated on a scale as broad and far-reaching as the North Dakota landscape.

"I believe that God forgives our sins," Bliss said. "I believe that trust, however, is earned.

"The part that was really difficult is I not only violated the trust of people like [former Baylor president] Robert Sloan and [former athletic director] Tom Stanton and my family, but I violated the trust of all my friends and all the people who relied on me. And I violated the trust between myself and my maker and that is a really difficult thing. ... [What] you have to do is pick yourself up and just get through the moment.

"I went through a period and did the terrible things I did and at the same time hypocritically claimed that I was a Christian. ... I completely forgot God because I was relying on myself during that period I was making bad decisions. But, fortunately, I have a Lord that allows and understands you are going to make mistakes.

"I know that I'd like forgiveness, and He automatically forgives you. But what He says is [forgiveness] has consequences. 'I will forgive you, but you're going to have to pay an unbelievable price.'

"I think I have paid an unbelievable price. And the price hasn't been the things that I have lost, but what I have caused other people to lose."

Bliss doubts he will ever again be a college coach. Even his August hiring to this professional minor-league position prompted angry media reaction locally and back in Texas, where more than one opinion piece declared Dave Bliss should never be allowed to coach again -- anywhere.

Wizards owner Steve McCormick presides over Northern Improvement, a contracting company that is only one of many ventures that makes him one of the state's most influential businessmen. He knows his choice of Bliss was controversial, in North Dakota and in Texas, where his sister-in-law is also upset over his recent sale of a parcel of land to Wal-Mart.

McCormick remains, however, solidly behind Bliss -- if not in favor of the coach's decision to speak publicly for the first time of the incidents that led him here.

"I think we're very fortunate to have him," McCormick said. "Dave was very up front as to the incident down there, and certainly we checked it out. But after meeting the person, he seemed very believable and to be of good character, and we went on from there. Up here in the Midwest, we have a tendency to trust people.

"My concern is there is a kind of crust over the top of things. And good or bad, any article is going to break that crust, and it will start over again. Because you have some people down there who aren't going to forgive Dave, regardless."

The saga began in the summer of 2002 when Bliss recruited Patrick Dennehy and Corey Herring to help fill roster spots of three players who were struggling with academic eligibility. When two of the players became eligible late in the summer and another on the first day of classes, Bliss said he made the initial costly error in judgment -- to pay the way for Dennehy and Herring.

"What I should have done," he said, "is break their hearts the first day of class and say, 'I can't get you here. I'm sorry, it's my fault.' And I just made a bad decision that was sympathetic to the fact that I had really sold them on Baylor.

"What I did then is I had to cover up for what I had done incorrectly. I have an expression in basketball that one bad pass usually leads to a bad pass. A bad decision leads to a worse decision. And that's the situation I found myself in."

Dennehy's murder in the summer of 2003 by teammate Carlton Dotson -- which Bliss said was "heartbreaking" -- led authorities to the fringe of Bliss' program. The impetus for a full-scale investigation came after the leak to the Star-Telegram of tapes secretly recorded by former assistant Abar Rouse.

Those recorded conversations, outlining a cover-up strategy, prompted Bliss to confess to the Baylor and NCAA probes.

The most glaring transgression in Bliss' cover-up was his attempt to convince players to portray Dennehy as a drug dealer to investigators. That would explain how Dennehy was able to pay his tuition and living expenses -- while Bliss was paying the way for Dennehy and Herring beginning in the fall of 2002. Bliss concocted the plan after he heard rumors during late spring of '03 of Dennehy's possible involvement with the sale of drugs. Later he learned that law-enforcement authorities were indeed investigating that alleged involvement as circumstances possibly leading to his murder.

Baylor law professor and current interim president Bill Underwood has previously acknowledged that fact in published reports.

"What I did is take my indiscretion and slip it into the closest excuse I could find, and it proved to be a disastrous choice," Bliss said. "It was absolutely the wrong thing to do.

"I have no understanding of how I got to that point. In a panic situation, you don't always make good decisions."

Bliss said he recently called Rouse to tell him he bore him no ill for recording his damning conversation as he mapped out cover-up plans.

"I have never, ever harbored any hate for him at all because he didn't do anything," Bliss said. "The part that I feel badly about is, he was just getting started in coaching, and he revered the chance to come to Baylor and then he had to live through that firestorm.

"He came to Baylor to be mentored, and I let him down."

Bliss said he hid the things he did from his wife, Claudia, and his former top assistant, Doug Ash. Had he not done that, he believes he would not have taken the wrong path.

He admits he and Claudia have had some difficult moments and still have not resolved all issues, but tearfully said he is humbled by the fact that she and their three children -- the youngest is now a college freshman -- have remained supportive. That and his faith, Bliss said, gave him the strength necessary to endure and emerge with new purpose.

"To tell you the truth," he said, "I honestly believe that is all on [his children's] side. They are such wonderful people, and their mother has raised them to be the absolute best.

"I know each one has been disappointed by what happened, and I have to re-earn all their trust. But that's the predicament I put them in, and they have chosen to hang with me."

Bliss said he hopes one day to again be a positive influence in young lives.

"But to be perfectly honest," he said, "I don't deserve a chance to coach in college again because I abused my opportunity. The only thing I know now is that my heart is back in the right place.

"And I know that I can be of encouragement to young people and not be a stumbling block like I was."

Bliss said he would also like to counsel young coaches, much as a recovering alcoholic offers his own experiences as a deterrent.

"I would tell coaches to make sure they are in control of their ambition and pride and [to remember] what the ultimate purpose of the profession is," he said. "To realize that integrity comes one man, one woman, one coach at a time."

Bliss is currently putting together a team that will open the season in a couple of weeks. Terry Black, an All-Big 12 player in 2001 who played for Bliss at Baylor, already has a place on the roster.

Black said Thursday that he was shocked at the things revealed about Bliss' actions.

"But I haven't really changed my perception of who Coach Bliss is," he said. "When I was at Baylor, he taught me how to do things in the right way.

"I can tell if a person is saying something to cut bait. But I've talked to him and I know he is remorseful. He made huge mistakes, but I know how badly he feels. I'm sure this has all been a nightmare for both him and his family.

"But we all make mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance."

CHRONOLOGY OF A SCANDAL

2003

June 19: Patrick Dennehy is reported missing to the Waco police by his stepfather, Brian Brabazon, who lives in Carson City, Nev.

June 25: Dennehy's 1996 Chevrolet Tahoe is found without license plates in a strip mall parking lot in Virginia Beach, Va.

July 21: Former player Carlton Dotson is arrested in Maryland and charged with Dennehy's murder.

July 25: Dennehy's badly decomposed body is found in a gravel pit southwest of Waco. Also, Baylor introduces an internal committee to investigate allegations of NCAA violations in the men's basketball program.

July 30: An autopsy report shows Dennehy died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.

Aug. 7: Dennehy's memorial service is held in San Jose, Calif. Former Baylor coach Dave Bliss, former athletic director Tom Stanton, Baylor president Robert Sloan and other Baylor officials attend.

Aug. 8: Sloan announces that the school has found evidence of major NCAA rules violations committed by the basketball staff. Bliss and Stanton resign, although Sloan said there was no evidence that Stanton knew of the violations. Violations included the paying of tuition for two basketball players, Dennehy and Corey Herring. Sloan places the program on two years' probation, including a one-year ban on postseason play.

Aug. 15: Former assistant coach Abar Rouse provides audio tapes of meetings with Bliss that Rouse secretly recorded. The tapes reveal Bliss attempting to involve assistant coaches and three players in a cover-up of NCAA violations by depicting the slain player as a drug dealer, which could account for the source of Dennehy's tuition payments.

Aug. 22: Sloan introduces Scott Drew, 32, a former Valparaiso assistant, as the new men's basketball coach.

Sept. 15: Regents vote 31-4 to affirm president Robert Sloan's tenure in the face of mounting criticism of the basketball program and the spiraling costs of Baylor 2012, the school's plan for its future.

Dec. 12: The internal investigative committee reports that it has found additional violations committed under Bliss, including improper payments for air travel and meals. The findings, which would be considered major violations by the NCAA, are expected to result in recommendations of additional sanctions against the team.

2004

Jan. 5: Former Baylor basketball player Chad Elsey files a lawsuit against Dave Bliss and Baylor alleging that Bliss breached an oral contract by reneging on a promise to pay Elsey's way through law school if Elsey transferred from SMU. Elsey drops the lawsuit in June.

May 12: The school announces a settlement with Dennehy's mother, Valorie Brabazon, averting a possible lawsuit against the institution. No financial details were announced.

May 14: Sloan survives a challenge to his presidency by one vote, 18-17, in closed-door balloting by university regents. He vows not to resign.

Aug. 18: A court-appointed psychologist testifies that Dotson is not mentally competent to stand trial in the death of Dennehy. Two other expert witnesses would later testify that Dotson is not competent.

Oct. 28: State District Judge George Allen rules that Dotson is incompetent to stand trial and orders him to the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon for 120 days.

Dec. 7: Baylor's faculty senate stages a referendum of faculty members in which 85 percent of those who voted cast their ballots against retaining Sloan as president.

2005

Jan. 21: Sloan announces that he is stepping down as president June 1 to become chancellor, a post that holds no administrative control of the school.

Jan. 27: After several weeks of psychiatric treatment, Dotson is ruled competent to stand trial in the shooting death of Dennehy.

Feb. 11: Dotson's trial in Waco is put on the docket, scheduled to begin June 13.

April 17: In Indianapolis, Baylor wraps up a two-day hearing in front of the NCAA Committee of Infractions, which is investigating the basketball scandal. The committee interviews past and current Baylor coaches and officials -- including Bliss -- for 16 hours over two days.

June 8: Dotson pleads guilty to charges that he killed teammate Patrick Dennehy in June 2003.

June 15: District Judge Ralph Strother sentences Dotson to 35 years in prison.

June 23: The NCAA announces penalties for multiple violations within the basketball program during Bliss' tenure at the school. The program will be on probation for five years (through June 22, 2010) and Baylor was ordered to not play nonconference basketball games one of the next two seasons (it selected this season).

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/colleges/13080002.htm

[Stallion]

I think the NCAA should really look at the position it puts players and coaches in by giving coaches incentives to "play eith the scholarship limits" and run kids off. I have no real criticism of guys like Mack Brown as well as just about every other Division 1A coach encouraging players to look elsewhere but I think the rule is flawed. Each school should be given a finite number of scholarships and if a kid leaves it should hurt the school. Coaches would be much less likely to take a chance on a academic risk or head case if they were forced to pay the price if he dropped out. This is what Bliss was trying to do-play with the numbers-it is done all across the nation-but Bliss made the mistake of paying the players tuition to stockpile. Not a mortal sin but it led to deception after deception.

[mrydel]

I think the NCAA should really look at the position it puts players and coaches in by giving coaches incentives to "play eith the scholarship limits" and run kids off. I have no real criticism of guys like Mack Brown as well as just about every other Division 1A coach encouraging players to look elsewhere but I think the rule is flawed. Each school should be given a finite number of scholarships and if a kid leaves it should hurt the school.

I will repeat my response to that. I think the NCAA should allow transfers from BCS schools to non BCS schools without having to sit out a year. The BCS has already put us at a level below the BCS schools, but the lesser divisions to us have the advantage over us by being able to get immediate playing time from transfer whereas we can not. We are getting the worst of both worlds.

[SoCal_Pony]

Great suggestion Mrydel…unfortunately too logical and harmful to BSC schools to ever be implemented.

My take on the Bliss article…I think he and the interviewer are both full of BS, as the reader is left with the impression that the only ‘transgression’ ever committed by Bliss was related to Dennehy. Some simple questions to Bliss would have determined how honest he now is about setting things 'right'…like explaining Baylor’s slush fund and how many players has he paid off during his illustrious coaching career.

[giacfsp]

....My take on the Bliss article…I think he and the interviewer are both full of BS ....

Couldn't have said it better myself.
Who wrote that crap? Sounds like Bliss hired a P.R. machine to make him look good, and if that's the case, he should get his money back. That story has such a shameful "poor little ol' me" theme to it. Puke. What's really sad is that I think he does know the Xs and Os of basketball pretty well, yet he's such a snake of a human being that I can't believe anyone would pay him to teach anything to anyone.

[Pony_Fan]

Makes you wonder what this scumbag did while he was at SMU...

[giacfsp]

Honestly, I don't want to know.

[BUTitan]

Dave who?

[Pony4Life]

Heh - good call, BUTitan.
That's our view about the guy, too.

[EastStang]

The NCAA investigator apparently came out and said, had we not gotten the football death penalty, basketball would have been severely punished for the Bliss years. Koncak was apparently on a payroll at the time. Ah, the good old days. #1 in football, #1 in basketball (for two days). The best teams money could buy.

[ponyboy]

Makes you wonder what this scumbag did while he was at SMU...

You've completely missed the lesson with a comment like that.