The most important thing going on in Gene Marsh’s life is not the Division I Committee on Infractions — it’s his work as a law professor at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.

Marsh believes that the committee’s work shouldn’t be the most important thing going in the NCAA, either, though he fears that the overwhelming media attention every time a school is penalized for even a minor infraction contributes to the public perceiving the adjudication of infractions as the only role the NCAA plays in overseeing college sports.

"I think too many people think of the NCAA as (the infractions committee) and only that," he said. "It really is a small part of what the NCAA is all about. The NCAA ought to be about students and their education and putting on events for them to compete in, among other initiatives. That’s where the focus should be. It should not be on the committee on infractions. The more anonymous that group is, the better.

"I think we’re doing our best work when nobody knows who we are."

Marsh became involved with the committee in 1998 when, as the then-faculty athletics representative at Alabama, he presented a case for the institution to the committee. A few months later, he was asked to serve on the panel. He already was familiar with the process from an institution’s viewpoint, and he was trained in the legal profession — a plus for many committee members.

Marsh recently completed a term as chair of the committee, nearly eight years after that initial appearance. His final term ends in September 2008. Committee members are appointed to three-year terms and may serve up to nine years total.

Marsh grew up in Dayton, Ohio, served in the Army and graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ohio State University. He received his juris doctor from Washington and Lee University. His area of expertise is contract law, business organizations and consumer protections, a segment of the law he has always loved. He can’t exactly describe why.

"It’s like, why do you like broccoli? You can’t really describe it. It’s just something you like," he said.

He first became Alabama’s FAR when the president appointed him to the post after he served on the institution’s intercollegiate athletics committee. At Alabama, the FAR is limited to a six-year term, a practice Marsh wholeheartedly endorses.

Since he joined the infractions committee in 1999, Marsh said the most interesting element about his service has been the people he’s met — lawyers, coaches, faculty members, athletics department administrators and "watching how they interact with each other, both at the time the events were occurring, but also at the hearing."

"The facts and the process — one starts to feel a whole lot like the next, but it’s the individual people involved who make it interesting," he said.

He truly wishes he could lower the profile of the committee, not because of any negative publicity it or the individual members receive, but because, like the role judges play in courtrooms, he said, "things are working at their best when the people in it are off the radar screen."

The committee has several new members this year, having lost three to term limits or resignation. Marsh said getting up to speed isn’t a problem — four or five hearings is all it takes to get a feel for both the chemistry and the mechanics of the process. With about 12 hearings per year in Division I — a figure that varies from year to year —-the time it takes for a new member to get acclimated is minimal.

"It’s not like it takes forever. (Those appointed to the committee) are fairly smart folks and, particularly if they have any legal background, are pretty adept at getting familiar with new processes and people pretty quickly," he said. "Lawyers do it all the time as far as jumping into new cases with new facts."

Marsh believes the committee shouldn’t take itself too seriously and should never take its attention away from the student-athletes the Association was created to serve.

"When people start to apply too much self-importance to the whole process and to service on this committee, it’s a dangerous thing. The focus ought to be on the students and the student-athletes and not on the committee, and that includes in the infractions process the penalties — not in a negative way but through consideration of their situation."