Former Morton Coaches suspended for three years by UIL

[Guest jhamilton]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/hso/6811269.html

Ex-Morton Ranch football coaches suspended 3 years
By JENNY DIAL
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
Jan. 12, 2010, 12:11PM

Diana L. Porter For the Chronicle
Former Morton Ranch coach Scott Svendsen is prohibited from coaching at a UIL school in the state until 2012.

Share  Print Share Del.icio.usDiggTwitterYahoo! BuzzFacebookStumbleUponAUSTIN — Former Morton Ranch head coach Scott Svendsen and offensive coordinator Jeremy Orsagh were suspended Tuesday for three years by the University Interscholastic League State Executive Committee for major rules violations involving recruiting and fundraising.

Morton Ranch High School was publicly reprimanded during the meeting and received a two-year probation. The three-year suspension for the coaches is the maximum penalty handed down by the UIL.

The suspension prohibits both individuals from coaching at a UIL school in the state until August 2012. The suspension is retroactive to last season since Svendsen and Orsagh were put on leave during that time and did not coach in 2009.

Findings of a Katy Independent School District investigation that has been ongoing since August were released at the meeting. Three coaches were placed on leave just before the football season started when allegations surfaced that they had been involved with misuse of funds and tampering with documents concerning student eligibility and grades.

After the investigation, Katy ISD officials determined there were no violations against former Morton Ranch defensive coordinator Cody Haug. He is now working for the district athletic office, according to Katy ISD director of athletics Rusty Dowling.

The school district’s investigation found several violations against Svendsen and Orsagh and passed the case on to the State Executive Committee.

One of the violations in question had to do with Sam Carter, who just finished his senior season at Hastings High School. Carter, who lived with relatives in Katy, was prompted by Orsagh to produce a lease agreement to prove residency in order to play football at Morton Ranch. Under the UIL Constitution, a coach can’t assist a player in filing the necessary paperwork to transfer schools.

Orsagh admitted to helping Carter with the lease agreement and stated that he simply did not understand the rules. Carter later transferred to Hastings with the help of Katy ISD. Since Carter’s mother held a permanent residence in Alief, Carter was cleared to play football.

“At that point, when it came to our attention that the lease agreement wasn’t right, we just tried to help the young man understand that he would not be eligible to play in Katy ISD,” Dowling said during the hearing. "He had a permanent residence in Alief and we signed his paperwork to transfer over there."

The other major violation had to do with fundraising. The Morton Ranch football team was featured in a commercial for a local Academy Sports store. While the team had permission to participate in the commercial, UIL rules clearly state that a team cannot use school equipment during the summer and that students may not accept any free meals or payment of any kind.

The team used pads in the commercial and the 25 players who were in the advertisement accepted a free meal as well as sporting gear from the store.

The 25 students were reinstated and deemed eligible once all of the gear was confiscated by the district.

The money from the commercial was to be used as a fundraiser to the Morton Ranch football team, which is legal under UIL rules.

Orsagh deposited the money into a bank account he and his now ex-wife Tasia Orsagh created, also legal. The account, however, was titled “Morton Ranch Quarterback Club” and there was one instance where a check for more than $1,200 was cashed from the account. Orsagh said the money was used to pay for a football camp at the school. Money collected for a team fundraiser cannot be used to pay for a camp.

Tampering with student records was also discussed. The NCAA received an anonymous phone call in August that former Morton Ranch quarterback Joe Mitchell’s transcripts were forged.

It was later found that the transcripts sent to Oklahoma State, where Mitchell was waiting to go through the NCAA Clearinghouse process, were the right ones. Mitchell, however, did not qualify to play at Oklahoma State. While going through this process, the district found out that Orsagh handled all of the recruiting at Morton Ranch. The head coach is supposed to oversee any recruiting happening with his team. The committee members questioned Svendsen about Orsagh’s responsibilities. The committee members said they were confused as to why Orsagh held so many duties in the program that Svendsen was not carefully overseeing.

In addition to Morton Ranch’s probation, the committee recommended that Katy ISD have an inservice with its schools and coaches to make sure everyone knows exactly what his and her responsibilities are.

Svendsen and Orsagh will not be able to coach in the state, unless it is with a school not affiliated with the UIL for the next two football seasons, which was a unanimous decision by the board members.

Dave Meadows, who was brought in to coach the Mavericks after the other coaches were dismissed, will stay on as the Morton Ranch head coach for the 2010 season.

“We just want the students at Morton Ranch to be able to move on and not have to pay for what adults around them have done,” Katy ISD superintendent Alton Frailey said. “We have some ood leadership in place at the school and want to make sure the students have a chance to move forward and succeed.”

[email protected]

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

wow

[Guest HFGirlsSportsFan]

For a second there, I thought the article was talking about WOS. ;D