areas that needed improvement. "Basically everything that's come to my desk or I've passed on to Gary, I think has been handled the right way," Ferentz said in January 2008. "If it's discipline, we try to do the right thing. Are we perfect? No, but we've been pretty upfront." Iowa would hire a director of player development before the 2008 season to help keep players out of trouble. In May 2008, warrants were issued for the arrest of two Iowa players in connection with a sexual assault on campus that occurred on October 14, 2007. The alleged incident involved the players assaulting a UI swimmer while she was unconscious. The university investigation began in November 2007, lasting nearly two semesters and causing severe public scrutiny over the apparent bungling and lack of transparency. The victim's mother sent two letters sent to school president Sally Mason, accusing university officials of encouraging her daughter, an Iowa student-athlete, to pursue resolution "informally" and within the athletic department. She said her family was told that it would be faster than the "arduous" process of involving police. Ferentz, athletic director Gary Barta, and other university officials met with the victim, according to the mother's letter. The first letter, sent in November 2007, was not released by the university, and the victim's mother released it to the Iowa City Press-Citizen herself. The letters caused the Iowa Board of Regents to meet, and the victim eventually filed criminal complaints. Both players were removed from the team within days of the incident. Ferentz was asked about the scandal several times at Big Ten media days, responding "there was suggestion made of a cover-up, and I know that's the media's job, that's the world we live in right now," He added that "I take great exception to that, and I think if a logical person looked at this, for anybody involved to be in a cover-up here, basically you'd have to be morally bankrupt, and secondly you'd have to be fairly ignorant." A later University of Iowa probe concluded that the university mishandled, but did not cover-up, the assault. The two players, defensive backs Cedric Everson and Abe Satterfield, were accused of second-degree sexual abuse, with Satterfield also being accused of third-degree sexual abuse. In 2010, Satterfield signed a plea deal, pleading guilty to assault with intent to inflict serious injury and was fined $625, with a suspended prison