GALION, Ohio — See latest story — The Ohio High School Athletic Association has suspended Galion football coach Chris Hawkins for the first two games of the 2015 season and placed the athletic department on two years’ probation for recruiting violations.
The ruling was announced Tuesday in a press release from Galion City Schools.
According to the release, the school self reported potential violations of OHSAA Bylaw 4, Section 9 — which focuses on athlete eligibility and recruiting — in early June.
Hawkins, who is 53-31 with four playoff appearances in eight seasons at Galion, will appeal his suspension.
“I did not, nor have I ever recruited a kid to come to play football at Galion,” Hawkins said shortly after the ruling was announced Tuesday afternoon. “Because of the success we’ve had, we do attract a lot of attention and we get a lot of inquiries, but we’ve always went through the administration and the proper procedures.
“Because I believe I did things the way I was supposed to, I’m appealing.”
Alleged violations included:
- providing an athletic brochure to a non-enrolled student’s father.
- sending a text message to players asking them to welcome a player who just moved to town. The player was named before he had enrolled at Galion High School.
- allowing a non-enrolled player to borrow a football helmet to be used at a football camp.
- after reporting initial contact by a parent in regards to enrollment, not adequately handling additional phone calls and/or texts.
“We had one thing we were concerned about and we wanted to be proactive and stay out in front of it, so we reported it to the OHSAA,” new Galion athletic director and assistant principal Kyle Baughn said. “We will learn from this and better educate our coaches. It’s unfortunate, but we will move forward.”
The player involved in the incident will not be able to participate in preseason scrimmages and must sit out the first game of the season.
In addition, the OHSAA fined Galion $750 and ordered the district to submit an action plan on ways to better inform coaches about Bylaw 4, Section 9.
“We are working on it now, but we can’t share details of the plan until the OHSAA has approved it,” Baughn said.
The probation would not preclude Galion from participating in the postseason. The football program has qualified for the playoffs each of the past three years.
OHSAA officials did not return a phone call Tuesday afternoon. Spokesperson Tim Stried said in an email the governing body would issue a statement, possibly as early as Wednesday.
Hawkins, who revived the once-proud program after years of futility, addressed the OHSAA’s points of concern.
“(The player’s) dad contacted me and said, ‘We are moving,’ but he couldn’t pay two mortgages so he had to sell his house. So I knew in February, (the player) was coming,” Hawkins said. “I knew all this but to me, you’re not a Galion football player until you are enrolled. I wouldn’t let the kid work out with our guys or lift with them.”
Hawkins said the player’s grandmother contacted him about borrowing a football helmet for a camp he was attending.
“His school would not give him a helmet to use, so I let him use a helmet and told his grandma it had to be back … because it was getting re-conditioned,” Hawkins said. “We share helmets all the time. I can remember a few years ago we had to borrow a helmet because we didn’t have a helmet that would fit a kid. That happens all the time and there’s no bylaw that says you can’t, but the bylaw they are throwing it under says you cannot give a kid any school-oriented material such as a t-shirt, sweatshirt or hat.
“(The OHSAA) is saying that is the same. If I give a kid a Galion sweatshirt, now I’m promoting. I let a kid borrow a helmet to use at a camp because he didn’t have one.”
Hawkins also took issue with the OHSAA’s contention that he provided an athletic camp brochure to the player.
“I’m the president of the North Central Ohio Football Coaches Association. I’ve been the president of that for 13 or 14 years,” Hawkins said. “There is a guy out of Upper Sandusky who (runs) a scouting service. I walked into an Ohio State clinic and he came up to me and said, ‘Here’s a brochure. If you know of any kids who want to play college football, let them know this.’ So I took a picture of that brochure and sent it to four or five of our kids and some other NCOFCA coaches.
“Since I’m the president of the NCOFCA I’m trying to promote football in this whole area and let people know what is available. So I sent this to the kid’s dad, along with 25 other kids’ dads.”
Bylaw 4, Section 9-4 prohibits coaches from using direct mailings or electronic communication to send information to a specific individual or individuals by name. Hawkins said he never texted the player.
“Our parents run workouts on Sundays. I haven’t been to those workouts in five years,” Hawkins said. “We have three kids who open enroll from the school that is in question and also, with the person in question, we have his cousin on the team. Some of our kids wanted the player there and that’s not a school function so they did that,” Hawkins said. “I shot a text to our kids and said, ‘Make him feel comfortable.’ I sent that to our kids.
“(The OHSAA) is throwing that under the bylaw that I can’t text the kid and I never have.”
Hawkins was meeting with legal council later Tuesday.
“I told the kids I will fight for my family — and our players are an extension of my family — and I fill fight for my integrity. That is why I’m appealing the ruling,” Hawkins said. “If I did something wrong and it was black and white, then I would man up and take the punishment.
“I thought we were doing everything by the book.”
“I told the kids I will fight for my family — and our players are an extension of my family — and I fill fight for my integrity. That is why I’m appealing the ruling,” Chris Hawkins said.
