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Don O’Neill: Bellevue football coach should receive lifetime ban
May 4, 2016, 5:18 PM | Updated: May 5, 2016, 9:06 am
An independent investigation found a series of potential violations on the Bellevue High School football program. (AP)
(AP)
Legendary Bellevue High School football coach Butch Goncharoff could be forced off the sidelines for the next two years. But KIRO Radio’s “Ron and Don” say that punishment is nowhere near enough.
In a somewhat roundabout way, the school district’s board members discussed the possibility Tuesday night of a two-year ban for the Wolverines head coach after agreeing with a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association report that there is evidence of misconduct and insufficient oversight for the football team. The board’s rationale is that any coach who accepts money from a booster club or outside organization would be in violation of board policies. Bellevue Football Club president John Connors recently told The Seattle Times the club has paid Goncharoff about $60,000 a year, but only for non-coaching activities.
“Which to me is a lot like getting caught with a prostitute and saying yeah I gave her money, but she’s helping out with my garden or something like that,” said KIRO Radio’s Ron Upshaw.
Related: Bellevue football club president is ‘insulted’ over ‘outrageous’ investigation
State rules require that payment of anything more than $500 to a coach must approved by the school board. That’s one of the things that didn’t happen, according to the WIAA investigation.
Upshaw says he was surprised by the board’s talk of just a two-year ban.
“My jaw dropped. What does this guy have to do to get fired?” he asked. “… What are you doing Bellevue? He won a lot of football games, but he did so by cheating, poaching the best players from other districts and teams, by circumventing the rules on every front, by letting kids go to an academy where they fail out of a class during the year and then get an A in it. C’mon, Bellevue, have a little bit of integrity now that you’ve been caught and just fire the guy.”
O’Neill believes that the school board is attempting to appear as though they are chastising the high school, team and coach.
“They’re not doing that at all by suggesting they’re going to ban him for two years,” O’Neill said. “I’m suggesting that he should be fired for a lifetime. He should have a lifetime ban for what he did, especially for all the cash payments he took under the table. And I’m wondering if that was reported to the IRS.
“Two years is a slap on the wrist,” he added. “And that doesn’t send a message to anybody.”
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