Mike Celizic

Some free advice for University of Miami president Donna Shalala: This time, look at the tapes.

And while she’s looking, Shalala should declare a moratorium on postseason football this season at the very minimum. This is not a team that should be thinking about bowl games. It is a team that should be thinking about what’s important.

Things like life itself.

That shouldn’t be hard in the wake of the shooting death of defensive end Bryan Pata on Tuesday. Few details are known about why he was murdered or whether the tragedy is in any way related to any of the other troubles to befall the Hurricanes’ football program this year. Nor is there anything to link it to the historic image of Miami football as a haven for thugs, the tickets of admission to which are arrogance and attitude.

It's too bad that's even considered, because by all accounts, Pata was a popular player on campus who was murdered at his apartment. He's described as a great kid, a "guidance counselor" to other players on the football team. He's no thug.

But there is no question that the institution needs to take a very long, very hard look at where it came from, where it is and where it hopes to go.

Last summer, safety Willie Cooper was shot in the buttocks while standing in his yard. His teammate, Brandon Meriweather, fetched his own gun and returned fire. Outside of Miami, that barely drew any notice. Fans were too busy screaming for coach Larry Coker to be fired to worry about a back-up defensive back.

Then, during the season, the ugly and inexcusable brawl against Florida International on Oct. 14 was dismissed with little more than a “boys will be boys” by Shalala. Lamar Thomas, a former player and analyst on local broadcasts, did get fired for his on-air comments in support of back-alley beatings, but Shalala didn’t see Thomas’ attitude as one endemic to the program. But, then, she didn’t look.

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She can’t let Pata’s murder pass with the same non-reaction.

A lot of sports fans might be surprised to know that Miami is an exclusive and excellent private school with tuition to match. The reaction is predictable when the school’s most visible program — the football team — carries such a negative image.

And so, unfortunately, Pata's murder will be lumped in with these other incidents, because the school's football program already has a negative image. If it happened at Ohio State, we’d be shocked. But at Miami, a lot of people will say it’s not even a surprise: When you recruit thugs, such things happen.

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This is what Shalala said after the brawl with FIU:

“I believe that the young men we have recruited for our football team are young men of great character. But they did a very bad thing. This university will be firm and punish people who do bad things. But we will not throw any student under the bus for instant restoration of our image or our reputation. I will not hang them in a public square. I will not eliminate their participation at the university. I will not take away their scholarships. It’s time for the feeding frenzy to stop. These young men made a stupid, terrible, horrible mistake and they are being punished.”

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