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FSU Strength Coach Suspended for DUI Arrest After Swigging Whisking in His Office…and TV Crew's Trailer

While filming a documentary, Showtime crews gave FSU's strength coach a bottle of whiskey. He drank it at the facility and then got a DUI.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

If you missed it last week, Florida State's strength and conditioning coach, Vic Viloria, was arrested and charged with DUI and property damage. This was, all in all, a pretty easy thing to miss considering who it was and that it came at a busy time for news.

But fortunately, Florida State did not let it pass by without a punishment (which it has been alleged of doing in the past for members of its football program). Thursday, they suspended Viloria for a month and without pay. It'll cost him more than $30,000 and it means he won't be able to help the team during a time when they have to play No. 11 Ole Miss and No. 19 Louisville. (What it means practically for a team to lose its strength and conditioning coach for that time is, um, unknown).

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Florida State's president John Thrasher released a statement announcing the decision:

"I have suspended Coach Viloria for more than a third of the football season to send a strong message about the very serious nature of his offense. We have an outstanding athletics program, and fans must know it operates with class and reflects the university's values. We are continuing to work with Showtime on their fall series showcasing our talented team, and they have been responsive to our concerns."

Did you catch that? He mentioned Showtime, the television channel. That's where this whole thing gets weird.

According to this document obtained from a public records request by Tomahawk Nation, Viloria was given a bottle of whiskey by crew members from Showtime, who are shadowing the program this year for a documentary show. The whiskey was for finishing training camp. It seems Viloria got that bottle, decided to open it in his office in the football facility, and had a few chugs with an assistant coach present and the crew members. Then he realized that's probably not the best idea, so he moved to the Showtime trailer. He was going to spend the night at the facility but decided to drive home, and was eventually pulled over with a .124 BAC.

What's hard to process in all this is how Florida State decides to dole out punishments in its program. This quote from the present rings especially loudly: "We have an outstanding athletics program, and fans must know it operates with class and reflects the university's values."

Florida State, of course, gave former star quarterback Jameis Winston a one-game suspension in 2014. It took him jumping atop a table yelling some gross and deplorable phrases, as well as stealing crab legs from a local grocery store, a possible violation violation of FSU's code of conduct, and, of course, his implication in a sexual assault allegation, before he was punished. Florida State has a perverse and highly permissive relationship with the law, as this New York Times report outlined two years ago.

Which is all to say, at least we know what the university values.

[Tomahawk Nation]