Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen on Tuesday had an opportunity to take a stand against the violence that too often infects college and professional athletics.

But instead, at SEC Media Days, Mullen sought to distance himself from the decision to enroll a five-star defense end and suspend him from one game for brutally hitting a woman.

The video of Jeffery Simmons hitting the woman went viral this past spring. He reportedly was trying to break up a fight involving a family member and was arrested for simple assault and disturbing the peace. He’s not yet been found guilty in court, but it’s hard to watch that video and come away with any other conclusion.

Mullen could have announced Tuesday that Simmons would sit the entire season, instead of one game. He could have told the college football world that violence is unacceptable, regardless of the situation, regardless of how great the athlete may be. He could have sent a message to his players and future recruits that there’s accountability on his team.

But instead, he had this to say: “I wasn’t involved as much. It was a university decision, but I was just thrilled we’re having Jeffery as part of our family coming in.”

Sure, Mullen wasn’t involved with the decision to enroll Simmons but surely he doesn’t expect anyone to believe he wasn’t involved with the decision to suspend him for one game.

Mullen said the university conducted a “very, very thorough investigation into everything that happened within the situation there and came up with the conclusion that, you know, we felt that Jeffery deserved the opportunity to be part of our family. And now we move forward in helping educate and develop a young man to become successful in his life.”

What could that investigation possibly have found that would make the beating shown on the video anything other than what it appears to be? It shows a 6-foot-4, 275 pound man beating a woman who is already on the ground while she covers her head and screams.

In a bit of irony, the MSU locker room has a sign that reads “respect women.” MSU should replace it with a sign that reads “Win at all costs” because the university obviously values victories over all else.