Reviewed By: Hayden V. Coombs
Affiliation: Southern Utah University
Suggested Citation:
Coombs, H. V. (2023). Unmasking the glory and scandal: The System as an essential text for athletic administration courses. Southern Utah University. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13766022
Abstract
Academic book reviews critically evaluate new works, promoting scholarship and enhancing academic publishing quality (Husselbee & Coombs, 2023). The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian offers an insightful analysis of the multi-billion-dollar college football industry. The authors blend praise for athletic accomplishments with critiques of corruption, exploitation, and legal battles, highlighting ethical dilemmas faced by athletes, coaches, and administrators. Drawing on interviews and real-life accounts, they explore the economic forces driving the sport.This review assesses the book’s contribution to sports scholarship and its application in Athletic Administration courses. With its journalistic style and real-world examples, the text helps students understand the complexities of intercollegiate sports, serving as a valuable supplement to more idealistic materials. Additionally, the engaging writing style keeps both students and academics invested throughout the semester. Despite some limitations, The System remains an essential resource on the ethics and economics of college football.
Keywords: Book review, Athletic administration, The System, College sports
Book Information
Book Title: The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football
Authors: Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian
Publisher: Doubleday
Year: 2013
Pages: 432 pages
ISBN-10: 0385536615
ISBN-13: 978-0385536615
Unmasking the Glory and Scandal: The System as an Essential Text for Athletic Administration Courses
The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian is an insightful exploration of the multi-billion-dollar industry of college football. The authors chronicle both the triumphs and controversies of the sport, balancing praise for athletic achievements with critiques of exploitation, corruption, and legal battles. This review evaluates the book’s contributions to sports scholarship, its use of research, and its relevance to ongoing discussions about college athletics.
In my Athletic Administration undergraduate courses, I use “The System” to illustrate the ethics and complexities of intercollegiate sports—concepts that traditional textbooks often approach idealistically. This book bridges the gap between theory and practice, offering real-world examples that give students a practical understanding of the challenges they may face in their careers.
Benedict and Keteyian organize the book into chapters that dissect various aspects of the “system” behind college football, from athlete recruitment to the financial dealings of universities and the NCAA. They begin by analyzing how agents and boosters manipulate high school athletes’ careers, using interviews and real-life accounts to expose the moral gray areas within which college athletics often operates.
The authors also investigate the economic forces that drive the sport, illustrating how universities and television networks profit from athletes’ labor while the athletes face strict penalties for seeking financial gain. High-profile scandals involving illegal benefits, academic fraud, and exploitation—such as those at Penn State, USC, and Miami—are explored in depth, showing how these issues are deeply rooted in the culture of college football.
In the book’s final chapters, the focus shifts to the personal lives of players, examining the physical and emotional toll the sport takes on them. The authors highlight the ethical dilemmas faced by coaches and administrators, showing that while college football can be a steppingstone to professional sports, it often comes at a significant personal cost to the athletes.
Critical Analysis
The strength of The System lies in its journalistic approach and thorough research. Benedict and Keteyian draw on hundreds of interviews, internal NCAA documents, and media reports to construct a comprehensive picture of the college football industry. Their narrative is engaging, and the use of real-life examples adds credibility and immediacy to their claims. Their discussion of the Sandusky scandal at Penn State, for example, offers a detailed examination of how institutional power can shield criminal behavior.
However, the book also has limitations. While the authors effectively highlight the excesses of college football, their analysis of the systemic issues is at times superficial. Although they acknowledge the economic disparities between athletes and the institutions that profit from them, there is little exploration of potential solutions or reforms. The tone can also feel sensationalistic, particularly in the coverage of scandals, which might detract from the book’s scholarly value.
Research Methods and Limitations
Benedict and Keteyian primarily rely on qualitative research, using interviews and case studies to support their claims. While this method is appropriate for their journalistic style, readers looking for a more data-driven analysis of college football’s economic and social impact may find it lacking. The book does not include detailed financial data, for example, which could have shed light on the revenue distribution discrepancies between universities and athletes.
Moreover, the book is beginning to show its age, as it does not engage deeply with academic theories on amateurism, athlete compensation, or the role of the NCAA in enforcing rules that may be exploitative. Incorporating scholarly perspectives on these issues would have strengthened their critique of the system and better aligned the book with academic literature on sports management and ethics.
Writing and Organization
The book is well-organized, with each chapter focusing on a distinct element of college football. The clear and accessible writing style makes it suitable for a broad audience, including those unfamiliar with the inner workings of college athletics. However, while the narrative-driven style keeps the reader engaged, it sometimes sacrifices depth for readability. In particular, the repetition of scandals across different institutions can feel redundant, and a more focused analysis of key case studies might have been more effective.
Contribution to the Field
Despite its shortcomings, The System makes a valuable contribution to discussions about the ethics and economics of college athletics. The book sheds light on the darker side of a beloved American institution and encourages readers to question the fairness of a system that generates billions of dollars in revenue while offering relatively little to the athletes who fuel it. This critique is especially relevant in light of recent legal challenges to the NCAA’s policies on amateurism, such as the O’Bannon case and the movement to allow athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness.
Benedict and Keteyian’s work provides important context for these debates, offering a historical perspective on the tensions between commercialism and amateurism in college sports. As a teaching tool, the book is particularly useful for courses on sports ethics, media studies, and American culture. It prompts critical discussions about the future of college athletics and the need for systemic reform.
Conclusion
The System by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian is a compelling and thoroughly researched account of the challenges facing college football. While it could benefit from a deeper engagement with academic theories and data, it remains a significant contribution to the field and an important resource for understanding the complex intersection of sports, economics, and ethics. The book’s real-world examples and engaging narrative make it an essential supplement to theoretical course materials, providing valuable insights for scholars, students, and professionals interested in the ethical and operational intricacies of intercollegiate athletics.
References
Benedict, J., & Keteyian, A. (2013). The system: The glory and scandal of big-time college football. Doubleday.
Husselbee, L. P., & Coombs, H. V. (2023). Academic book reviews explained. Utah Journal of Communication, 0(2), 48-51. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10064394
Hayden Coombs 