Assaulting someone off the field hasn't always led to a suspension from the MSU football team.

But this year was a whole new game.

Six players were suspended indefinitely for their involvement in fights or violent incidents.

In previous years, players, such as former senior running back Jason Teague and former starting bandit Cole Corey — both of whom were involved in criminal incidents, were allowed to play and practice with the team.

MSU head football coach John L. Smith cracked down on his players this year, suspending two who weren't even charged with crimes.

"What you have to understand is Coach Smith took these actions because they failed to meet team expectations," said John Lewandowski, MSU associate athletics director for media relations. "There have been many times this season when the coach has taken action before we got all the details."

Lewandowski previously has said players had the right to remain on the team while their cases were still in court.

Smith didn't change his disciplinary approach this season, Lewandowski said, but the players suspended this year drew more attention because they were more prominent members of the team.

"There is about 105 to 130 people who are a part of the football team every year," he said. "When you have that pool, you are going to have issues."

Smith held his players to the same level of accountability used in the past, Lewandowski said, adding Smith's wavering job security didn't have an impact on how he disciplined players.

But at the press conference where Smith's firing was announced, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon acknowledged the players' misconduct was one strike against Smith.

"Everything factors in," she said. "It wouldn't be accurate to say it was one thing (that led to his firing)."

Suspending the players was Smith's decision — university administrators didn't put pressure on the coach to take a more aggressive approach with the team, Lewandowski said.

This year

During an Oct. 9 press conference, Smith indefinitely suspended junior tight ends Kellen Freeman-Davis and Eric Andino and junior walk-on wide receivers Barre Mackie and Jeremy McGinis, before any player was charged with a crime. The four players were involved in a fight at Abbott Place apartments, formerly known as the Capstone Commons Apartments, 2501 Abbott Road.

Although suspended indefinitely, both Andino and Davis were allowed to return to the field after sitting out four games because Smith decided they had served their penalty, Lewandowski said. Both men were charged with misdemeanors for their involvement in the incident at the apartment complex.

The two students played in the first game Smith coached after he had been fired by the university.

Junior reserve safety Mike Bell was withheld from all football-related activities after he was charged with one count of assault and battery. He was involved in a skirmish with three women Sept. 8.

Junior backup defense tackle Bobby Jones was suspended from the team after he was charged with assault and battery in connection with an Oct. 15 incident involving a 20-year-old woman at the Chandler Crossings apartment complex.

"If they fail to meet team expectations, the coach is going to take action," Lewandowski said.

Previous incidents

But the way players were punished this fall doesn't follow the discipline method established by Smith in previous years.

Last fall, when Corey was in trouble for possessing a controlled substance, he wasn't removed from the team. After Corey pleaded guilty in the Lenawee County Circuit Court to possession of a controlled substance in February, Lewandowski said the football team would wait until sentencing to make any decision on Corey's athletic future because the legal process would have to run its course.

Corey would later be sentenced in May to spend between two and 10 years in prison for possession of a controlled substance. Following Corey's sentencing, MSU spokesman Terry Denbow released a statement that said: "Per MSU's Student-Athlete Conduct Policy, in effect since 1996, any student-athlete who, while a member of an MSU intercollegiate athletic team, is convicted of a felony will be suspended from the team and precluded from participation in games and all other benefits related to team membership."

In summer 2005, senior wide receiver Aaron Alexander pleaded guilty to drunken driving charges, and was sentenced by the 54-B District Court to serve five days of community service and pay $738 in fines for driving while impaired. He also was credited with serving one day in jail.

At that time, Lewandowski said Alexander would remain an active member of the football team and team business "stays within the family."

Teague also crossed the long arm of the law in 2005, when he was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery of a woman who asked him to leave her home. According to an East Lansing Police Department incident report, Teague struck her three times in the face Oct. 31, 2004.

Teague would go on to plead not guilty in July 2005 and shortly after Smith said he didn't know if Teague would be suspended from the team.

After the incident was made public, Lewandowski said Teague would remain on the football team and would be disciplined after the case was finished going through court.

"He is currently still a member of the football team, and there is a legal process that needs to run," Lewandowski said in July 2005.

The charges against Teague were later dismissed, although he was required to take an anger management class, write a letter of apology to the victim and take part in substance abuse counseling. Lewandowski would not disclose the disciplinary action taken against Teague in August 2005.

Handling an incident

Players who violate the law are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, Lewandowski said.

"Each case has to be looked at," he said. "I see (Smith) reacting the same way this year as he has throughout his tenure. I don't want to get into a numbers count of what has happened in the past."

MSU has a written athletic policy, and coaches set rules for their players to obey, Lewandowski said. The punishments doled out by Smith fit the infractions committed by each player, he added.

"Some of those kids have missed a third of the season," Lewandowski said. "The penalty has been served from a football standpoint."