Au contraire. I think the coach senses that he's in trouble and is latching onto this as insurance against his being fired for poor performance.
If I were the university president, I'd surreptitiously upgrade the surveillance cameras and try to catch the perp(s).
Couldn't they do a DNA analysis on the...um...evidence?
Good point. Blame the university president for his poor recruiting and coaching, and leverage that to hang on another year in hope of doing better next year.
The President should suspend the coach and the boycotting players. If the rest of the staff and team want to play, fine, if not, it probably won’t change the end result of the season by more than one game, and won’t have a meaningful impact on the conference standings.
Chain of custody problem.
He who did it may not have been the one who dealt it.