When a group of lawyers were retained to investigate the leadership of former University of Illinois head football coach Tim Beckman, they were determined to speak to as many people as they could.
Ultimately, they conducted 100 interviews involving 76 witnesses.
But almost as interesting as the individuals who were interviewed are those who refused to participate in the probe despite multiple efforts to encourage them to answer questions.
The revelations about who would and would not be interviewed speak volumes about current players' and former employees' fears of saying something that would be construed as negative by coaches and administrators and could lead to repercussions down the road.