Couldn't disagree more. If we learned anything from Meyer's tenure it's that discipline is necessary for long term sustainability of a program and favoritism should never be tolerated.
I'm not saying there aren't some cases where a kid makes a relatively isolated mistake and discipline helps him to grow up. Nor am I saying the truly bad things should be overlooked. But despite popular myth, guys like Harvin and Hernandez were punished with missing games because of "injuries", because of failed tests, and other minor things. And where did it change them? They were bad people here, and were equally bad later in life.
I just think there's only so much a coach is going to be able to do, especially with limited contact rules. As I've said before, if they're that bad, kick them out of the program. But to suspend them for a game over weed, or something else somewhat minor, has no track record of effectiveness. And my point was that even with AC sitting, we're still going to hear about this relentlessly and the program still gets the black eye. So why not get the performance out of him. He's not going to change, and the real damage is going to be about 8 months when the NFL pays him a fraction of what his talents warrant. If we're still ok with him wearing O&B, what difference is Sep 2nd or Sep 9th?