In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a show-cause penalty is an order saying that a coach involved in major rules violations at a university's athletic program may not be hired by any other NCAA member institutions without permission from the Infractions Committee for a set period of time. If a university seeks to hire such a coach, they must "show cause" as to why they should not be penalized for hiring him. Most schools will not even consider hiring a coach with a show-cause penalty in effect; hence the show-cause order effectively blacklists him from the collegiate coaching ranks for the duration of the penalty. The penalty is intended to follow a coach for violations that he had a role in committing.