San Marcos High School football team again eligible for playoffs after UIL hearing

Thomas Jones, Austin American-Statesman
·4 min read
San Marcos football coach John Walsh and his team regained postseason eligibility after the UIL state executive committee overturned a district executive committee ruling in August that had banned the Ratters from the playoffs for recruiting violations.
San Marcos football coach John Walsh and his team regained postseason eligibility after the UIL state executive committee overturned a district executive committee ruling in August that had banned the Ratters from the playoffs for recruiting violations.

ROUND ROCK — After more than a month of fighting for his team’s right to participate in the playoffs, San Marcos football coach and athletic director John Walsh had one immediate reaction when the UIL’s state executive committee allowed his team to compete in the 2022 postseason.

“We have Samuel Clemens Friday night, so I get to go back to the school and coach for a playoff spot,” he said, referring to the Rattlers’ District 27-6A opener against Schertz Clemens this week in San Marcos. Of the playoff ban, he said, “It would have been unfair to punish those kids that had nothing to do with anything that was put out there.”

What was “put out there” — a ruling by District 27-6A’s executive committee in August — included a two-year playoff ban for the San Marcos football program as well as a public reprimand for Walsh for recruiting violations. The district committee ruled by unanimous vote that Walsh’s program had recruited a group of youth football players from the San Antonio area to enroll at San Marcos High School as freshmen for this school year and join the school’s football program.

The majority of those players for the Texas Seminoles youth football team live in the Judson school district just outside of San Antonio, but the group included students from various districts in the San Antonio area.

More:LBJ football team rolls as RB Sedrick Alexander chases history

San Marcos is an open enrollment school district that allows for transfer students, but transferring for athletic purposes violates UIL regulations.

Despite the voiding of the postseason ban, Walsh and his staff didn’t go unscathed. At Monday's meeting, which lasted more than two hours, the UIL’s state executive committee upheld the public reprimand for Walsh and school district employee Earl Anderson and placed Walsh and the program on a three-year probation. While state committee members overturned the district committee’s postseason ban, they did say the state committee could revisit a possible playoff ban after eligibility hearings on the youth football players who do not live in the San Marcos school district but enrolled in San Marcos High School in the summer. UIL officials did not give a timeline for those hearings.

“The preponderance of evidence tells me something happened,” said Charles Breithaupt, the UIL’s executive director, who joined UIL director of athletics Susan Elza and UIL deputy director Jamey Harrison as well as state executive committee members at the hearing.

More:Vandegrift football team credits rugby players for gaining an edge on the gridiron

That concern was shared by committee members, who criticized the San Marcos program for not thoroughly vetting the incoming students as well as for allowing non-staff members such as Anderson to have too much access to the football program.

Anderson, a star defensive lineman for San Marcos two decades ago, has children who compete in the athletic program for San Marcos and has long been a fixture at various athletic events in San Marcos. He described himself at the hearing as nothing more than an involved father who has no official ties to the San Marcos coaching staff or the Texas Seminoles youth football program.

But the state committee members were also concerned about punishing current San Marcos varsity players for alleged violations by underclassmen who do not compete on the varsity. That concern proved that the system to appeal district committee decisions worked, Walsh said.

“I’m appreciative of the process that the UIL has in place,” he said. “The burden of proof is on us, and I think they let us do that in a really fair setting.”

Walsh said focusing on football will be a relief after the past month, even though UIL officials still plan to hold eligibility hearings for the 11 new San Marcos students who played for the Texas Seminoles.

“I think our coaches and kids do a great job of creating that family atmosphere in our program, and we haven’t let the outside noise bother us one bit,” Walsh said. “Hopefully a little bit of positive noise we’ll let inside our brains and get a little boost.”

San Marcos (2-3) had its bye last week.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: San Marcos High football again eligible for playoffs after UIL hearing