The words are a dagger to someone in charge of an athletic department: lack of institutional control.

That’s just what former Kansas University athletic director Bob Frederick heard Friday, when the NCAA alleged KU had failed to exert appropriate institutional control between 1997 and 2003.

That time period spans three athletic directors. But it mostly hits Frederick, who was in charge from 1987 to 2001.

“I was really surprised that the NCAA came back with that,” Frederick said Friday night. “I think it’s not warranted, and I think it’s unfair.

“I can only speak to that portion of time that I was there, and for them to say that there was not an atmosphere of compliance was not the case.”

The NCAA gave four reasons for the allegation: failure to create and maintain an atmosphere for compliance, failure to report NCAA rules violations in a timely manner, failure to provide NCAA rules education and failure to monitor activities of prospective student-athletes.

The fourth referred to a three-month span in 2003, while the third covers six different allegations, five of which came after Frederick’s tenure. The first two particularly ate at Frederick.

One reason for compliance being called out, according to the NCAA report, had to do with a vacancy in the compliance-auditor position at three different occasions, totaling 20 months. While Frederick and the other athletic directors were in charge of the compliance department, an auditor was assigned by the university’s general counsel and wasn’t the athletic director’s business.

“I never, ever, during that period, heard anything that was a negative about our compliance through those compliance auditors,” Frederick said. “I never saw those reports. That was part of the deal. That was the independence.”

Reason two, though, states that “multiple” secondary violations among the 26 listed in the report weren’t submitted in a timely manner. Frederick admits being in charge for 19 of them.

Al Bohl, who was athletic director for 20 months from 2001 to 2003 before being fired, didn’t return a message seeking comment.

Frederick hopes a resolution comes quickly.

“I hope that these are just allegations at this point, and I hope we can show that that’s not the case,” Frederick said. “I don’t think this warrants a lack of institutional control.”