Cam Newton, Auburn quarterback and national champion, recently competed in the BCS National Championship game even though his father violated NCAA policy, accepting funds from Auburn to ensure Newton went to Auburn as opposed to another institution.

Within this environment, new Guilford head football coach Chris Rusiewicz enters the scene. He must recruit, he must build, and he must refocus a program amidst the larger world of illegal activity and shady recruiting practices.

However, unlike the coaches at Auburn, or Stanford, or Oregon he has no money to offer or national glory to give. He must, however, deal with the same environment of dishonesty as those coaches do.

What he does have to offer is a true student-athlete experience. His players will go to class, do homework, practice, and interact with the community outside of football. They will be true students and they will be true athletes in a college setting. Their accomplishments will be no less because their games are not on TV or because their activities are not discussed by TV pundits.

They are part of this institution unequivocally and will represent the student body in a way Division I athletes never will. They will actually know the students in the stands. Their friends will work the markers on the sidelines and run balls for work study. They will eat lunch in the Caf where everyone else eats and they will go to cheer for their friends at basketball games. They might even go to a play on campus or join the school newspaper.

There is one thing Cam Newton will never be: a student-athlete.