May 1, 2020

Ms. Leigh Ann Rainey, Principal

Mt. Juliet High School
1875 Golden Bear Gateway
Mt. Juliet, TN 37122

Dear Ms. Rainey:

This is in response to our inquiry into the alleged violation of Article II, Section 17 (Recruiting
Rule) of the TSSAA Bylaws by the Mt. Juliet High School football program. After the state
office received the allegations, the administrators at Mt Juliet High School were contacted and
asked to investigate the situation. If it was determined that a violation occurred, the
administration was asked to deal with the situation and report any action taken to the state office
in writing. The requested information was received on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. It stated in part:

Our district team was alerted to some inappropriate activities that the coaches for
the Mt. Juliet High School Football program were engaged in. These activities
appear to be violations of the TSSAA’s recruiting rules (Article II, Section 17).
District staff conducted investigations into each of the allegations after it was
found that the MJHS administration failed to report.

An incident was reported to the district on April 17 th and a TSSAA official

reached out to district staff concerning the same event on April 18 th. A current
student at Wilson Central High School was extended personal invitations to
virtual workouts with MJHS football and to participate in virtual position
meetings via text between 3/26 and 4/17. Screenshots were provided to district
staff and reportedly to TSSAA staff. This student is also scheduled to transfer to
Green Hill High School next year. District staff instructed MJHS to remove this
student from their contact list. The head coach complied and indicated that there
was another student in the same situation. Both students were reportedly
removed from their contact list on April 19th.

The Remind messaging app was mentioned in the initial report on April 17 th
which prompted district staff to look into all Remind messages tied to the football
program. Remind was used by MJHS Football coaches to invite 50 students from
other schools to participate in virtual workouts with the MJHS strength coach and
to attend virtual position meetings. Of the 50 students, 35 are currently in four
area middle schools, 14 are current students at Wilson Central, and one student
 attends Barry Tatum Academy in our district. Twenty-three of these workout
invitations were extended to these students between March 22 nd and April 22nd
when the practice was discontinued at the request of district staff. There were
three position meeting invites sent to these students in March. As instructed by
the TSSAA office, the virtual position meetings were discontinued on April 1 st.
MJHS administration confirmed that invitations were sent to students who they
believe were slated to transfer to MJHS in the fall.

Our district’s senior leadership became aware of targeted attempts by the MJHS
Football coaching staff to retain current members of their team in spite of the
district’s rezoning plan. Emails and interviews confirm that parents were invited
to a meeting where the coaching staff directed them to apply for zone exemptions
and the content that they should include in their requests. A common draft was
used by those parents in their out of zone requests to the district

Article II, Section 17 (Recruiting Rule) of the TSSAA Bylaws states the following:

Athletic recruiting is prohibited. Athletic recruiting is the use of influence on a

student or the parents or guardians of a student, by any person(s) directly or
indirectly associated with the school, to secure or retain a student for athletic
purposes. In the event that there is a violation of this rule, there shall be a penalty
against the school, and the student(s) who was the subject of the violation shall be
ineligible for a minimum of one year.

The penalty and any additional period of ineligibility beyond the one-year
minimum will be determined by the Executive Director based on a consideration
of the number of violations involved, the number of student-athletes involved, the
nature of the violation(s), the individual(s) responsible for the violation(s), and
the extent to which the violation may have been knowing, deliberate, or in
reckless disregard of the provisions of this rule and the commentary that
accompanies this rule.

In addition to the rule, statement #4 under "How is influence for athletic purposes interpreted in
the recruiting rule?” reads as follows:

Any initial contact or prearranged contact by a member of a coaching staff or

representative of the school and a prospective student-athlete in the seventh grade
and above.

There are three primary objectives that the member schools of the TSSAA attempt to achieve
through their Bylaws: (1) maintaining athletics in its proper perspective as subordinate to the
primary academic mission of the schools; (2) preventing the exploitation of students for athletic
purposes; and (3) fostering fair competition, or a “level playing field,” among the TSSAA
member schools. While some particular Bylaws may serve additional purposes, all of the
Bylaws should be read with these three overriding objectives in mind. After considering the
facts, it was determined that there has been a violation of Article II, Section 17 (Recruiting Rule)
by the Mt. Juliet High school football program.

After reviewing all of the information, this case is being closed in the following manner:

1. The football program at Mt. Juliet High School is being placed on probation for two
calendar years, beginning May 1, 2020 through May 1, 2022. In addition, the Mt. Juliet
High School football program is being fined $1,000. Article V, Section 4(1) of the
TSSAA Constitution states:

Probation to an individual sport in an athletic program shall result in a fine of

$500.00 annually.

During the period of probation, the school may participate in football at all levels
including the season-ending playoff series. However, if there are any other violations
involving the football program, we will have no choice but to consider further
disciplinary action.

2. During the first year of probation, the following sanctions shall apply to the football
program:

Year one probation – May 1, 2020, through May 1, 2021:

 Must reduce the number of allowed Fall 2020 scrimmages from 4 to 2. No

jamboree participation allowed.
 No conditioning, weightlifting, or practice allowed during the first week of
summer practice after the Dead Period (July 5, 2020, through July 11, 2020).
 No 7-on-7 scrimmages or competitions during the first year of probation.
 Spring 2021 practice reduced from 12 days in a 15-day period to 7 days in a 10-
day period.
 No Spring scrimmage allowed in 2021.
 No in-person interest meetings with middle school students.

3. During the second year of probation, the following sanctions shall apply to the football
program:

Year two probation – May 2, 2021, through May 1, 2022:

 Must reduce the number of Fall 2021 scrimmages from 4 to 3. No jamboree

participation allowed.
 No Spring 2022 scrimmage allowed.
 No in-person interest meetings with middle school students.

4. It is very important to note the last sentence in the first paragraph of the TSSAA
Handbook on the Recruiting Rule, which states:
 In the event that there is a violation of this rule, there shall be a penalty
against the school, and the student(s) who was the subject of the violation
shall be ineligible for a minimum of one year.

The violations that have occurred could implicate the eligibility at Mt. Juliet High School
of the student-athletes involved. However, in an effort to err on the side of allowing
these student-athletes to participate, we will assume based on the information from the
administration that these student-athletes likely would have attended Mt. Juliet High
School notwithstanding the events described above. The student-athletes will, therefore,
be eligible to participate at Mt. Juliet High School and all other member schools provided
they meet all other eligibility requirements.

5. TSSAA acknowledges that the Wilson County School District and Mt. Juliet High School
administration plans to work with the Human Resources Department to take further
actions with the specific coaches and employees that orchestrated the violations.

It is important to note that TSSAA has established a set of minimum rules and regulations for all
member schools. Administrators in each member school can always make their rules and/or
disciplinary actions more stringent, if desired. If the administration decides to take tougher
action, please notify the state office in writing as soon as possible.

If you have questions concerning this, please feel free to contact our office.

Sincerely,

Bernard Childress
Executive Director

BC:lj