Beryl Shipley

In 1968, partly due to this, the Ragin' Cajuns were slapped with two years' probation and barred from postseason play during that time.

The NCAA found that one of Shipley's assistants had altered a recruit's high school transcript and forged the principal's signature, and others close to the program had arranged for surrogates to take college entrance exams for prospective recruits.

The NCAA responded by scrubbing the Ragin' Cajuns' 1972 and 1973 appearances from the books and shutting the program down for two years—the first time that the NCAA had ever punished a school with the so-called "death penalty," and to date the only multi-season cancellation ever handed down to a Division I member in any sport.

In his later years, Shipley admitted to violating NCAA rules, but claimed he did so for "humanitarian reasons."

In an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2011, he mentioned that one of his players came to school with only one set of clothes and no sheets for his bed.

He was largely ostracized by Southwestern Louisiana/Louisiana-Lafayette for many years; school officials took the line that as the head coach, he should have had more control over the program.