Todd Spencer resigns after violations

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Georgia Tech offensive line coach Todd Spencer has resigned after he violated NCAA recruiting rules by sending text messages to recruits, the school announced Wednesday.

The NCAA prohibits all electronic correspondence to recruits with the exception of faxes and emails.

The violation was discovered by an internal investigation within the athletic department, and coach Paul Johnson recommended to athletic director Dan Radakovich that Spencer be fired. Spencer resigned, though, before the investigation had been completed, according to a release from the school.

Radakovich says the violation was "inexplicable" after the NCAA put Georgia Tech on four years' probation last year and took away its 2009 ACC championship.

The NCAA said the school should have declared receiver Demaryius Thomas ineligible after he accepted gifts from a former player who was working for an agent.

"I find it inexplicable that an employee would violate these rules with regard to text messaging after our ongoing focus to educate our personnel on NCAA rules and regulations," Radakovich said in a prepared statement. "Actions of this type simply are not acceptable in our programs and will not be tolerated. I have directed our compliance staff to continue to review the text and phone records of all of our coaches on an ongoing basis as is the mandate and expectation of Georgia Tech and the NCAA."

Georgia Tech has reported its findings to the NCAA enforcement staff, kept them advised throughout the investigation and will submit a final report of its internal investigation. Spencer was suspended and placed on administrative leave by Radakovich while the investigation into the coach's phone records was under way.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the NCAA penalized Georgia Tech for two of three texts, which were sent in November. The third was a text from Johnson, who thought he was replying to a text from a team member, not a recruit. The NCAA then banned Georgia Tech's coaching staff from initiating telephone or written communication with the recruit for four weeks, starting in late December.

Heather Dinich is a college football writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Heather Dinich | email

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• Joined ESPN.com in 2007
• Wrote for The Baltimore Sun