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Pittsburgh head football coach Pat Narduzzi criticized policymakers who allowed NCAA athletes to bet on professional sports.
“It’s absolutely one of the stupidest decisions I’ve ever seen,” Narduzzi told media on Monday, saying players could fall into the “disease” of “addiction.”
“I’m not a gamer. So I just don’t understand. I’m not addicted to anything. I just don’t think it’s a good thing to teach our young people how to do it,” Narduzzi continued. “It’s hard enough in the compliance office trying to stop your guys from gambling – you can bet at a boxing match, you can bet on horse racing because it’s not an NCAA sport, but who bets on horse racing, really, unless you go to the racetrack? You can go to the casino and play craps or whatever you want. But now it’s a thing on your phone, you can pick it up, go to an app, and it’s like, what are we? do? Once you’ve done it once and won, you want to do it again, it becomes an addiction. I just think it’s not a good deal… It’s a bad deal.”
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Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi reacts to a call against the Syracuse Orange during the second half at the JMA Wireless Dome. (Rich Barnes/Imagn Images)
Narduzzi also noted that simple innocence, combined with negligence, could lead to severe punishment.
“Press the wrong button on your phone and see what happens. ‘Oh, I thought it was an NFL game, but I pressed the wrong button and bet on a college football game.’ I just think it’s not good. And I’m not going to change my mind.”
Narduzzi said he would address the new regulations with his team and offer some advice.
Pat Narduzzi against the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 11, 2021, in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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“Stay away. Nothing changes in our room. You shouldn’t do all this. Save your money. Put it in the bank. That’s my feeling.”
Starting Saturday, the NCAA will amend its bans on gambling to make betting on professional sports legal for athletes. They will still be prohibited from betting on college athletics.
The rule change was announced just a day before three prominent NBA figures – Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones – were arrested by the FBI for their alleged roles in illegal gambling schemes.
Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi watches players practice on the field before a college football game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the University of Miami Hurricanes on November 26, 2022, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Doug Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Rozier and Jones were arrested for allegedly disclosing non-public information to players, while Billups and Jones are accused of knowingly participating in and profiting financially from rigged poker games with Mafia ties.
