Chette and Hall can be pretty persuasive.:biggrin2:
Something has to be done to close that loophole Auburn has created.
He is not, Auburn officials insist, a salaried employee, despite being labeled as a hire of Tuberville's, despite the office he has at the athletic department and his listing on the Tigers' Web site as team chaplain. ''He is employed by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes,'' said Terry Windle, Auburn's associate athletic director. ''He is paid by the F.C.A.'' Williams is also on the payroll of powerful Auburn boosters, with none other than the bank tycoon Bobby Lowder as one of his primary benefactors.
Chette Williams Ministries Inc., a nonprofit 501C3 charity's address is Auburn Athletic Department, with its books kept by Terry Windle ''on my own time,'' he said. According to Lee County, Ala., property records, Windle is also named as the owner of Williams's Auburn house -- valued at $346,050, three blocks from Tuberville's residence.
The list of officers for Chette Williams Ministries, Inc., none of whom are compensate, is curious.
*The vice president, Ben Thomas, is listed as a member of Auburn's event management staff and was the former resident director for Sewell Hall, the athletes' dormitory.
*The chairman, Mike McCartney, a former Auburn board member, is a successful Alabama businessman who has a history of close associations with Lowder.
*The treasurer, Wayne Hall, is a former Tigers defensive coordinator who is known as a leader in Lowder's posse that oversees everything Auburn. Hall became labeled as the instigator who helped Lowder undermine Coach Terry Bowden during a scandal in 1998. Bowden dismissed Wayne Hall, a holdover from former Coach Pat Dye's staff, when Terry suspected Hall wasn't as devoted to N.C.A.A. rules as he demanded.
For N.C.A.A. rules purposes, it is important to know if his message is specifically aimed at athletes, including potential recruits. Williams repeatedly has declined to discuss this matter, but in a statement he released through Auburn, he said, ''In my role as the Director of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, I provide spiritual advisement to students on the Auburn campus.'' His ministry mission, however, doesn't square with his F.C.A. role. On tax forms, he paints a much more narrow picture, explaining that the purpose of his ministry is to work effectively with ''Auburn University athletes, especially with the football team, to encourage and stimulate better relations between players, coaches and support staff, using the standards and examples set by Jesus Christ; provide opportunities to evangelize, disciple and develop leaders through one-on-one witnessing and systematic studies, prayer meetings and counseling.''
One big question is Why would Lowder invest so much money and have so many ties to a team chaplain? Is Lowder invited to the prayer circles? Does he know all and see all through Brother Chette? What a deal to be able to cheat and get a tax write off to boot.
scrutiny of the NCAA could something like this happen.
