A private investigator’s recent findings into financial improprieties with defunct Lapes Athletic Team Sales led Capistrano Unified School administrators to remove San Clemente High football coaches last week, district officials told parents tonight.
In a carefully choreographed meeting about the decision to put the coaches on administrative leave, Principal George Duarte backed by Superintendent Joe Farley addressed the nearly 100 parents in the Triton Center and fielded their questions. The administrators spent about 45 minutes assuring parents they were doing their best to keep the student-athletes’ best interests at heart while discussing the bare-bone basics of a months-long investigation into alleged kickbacks.
“The reason we’re here is because we take this entire situation seriously,” Duarte said. “It’s been tough.”
Last week, Triton head football Coach Eric Patton and four additional coaches were abruptly pulled from their coaching jobs, leaving players and their parents frustrated and concerned about a season only days away from starting.
None of the coaches have been charged criminally, but Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, said last week his agency is investigating Lapes Athletic and coaches.
Tonight, parents voiced concern about their boys, the reputations of the coaches and the future of the program.
“I just think the process needs to be looked at,” said parent Tom Donnelly.
Keri Murphy called on the district to complete the process as quickly as possible to reduce the distractions on the athletes.
She also expressed support of Patton who set an “unbelievable example” for his players and who without fanfare helped underprivileged athletes.
“I would just give my heighty-ho to Eric Patton,” said Murphy whose son Kevin Murphy plays for Harvard University and senior Kyle Murphy is among the top-ranked high school offensive tackles in the country.
Both Duarte and Farley indicated that coaches at other high schools, in other districts and even some retired may be affected by the probe.
Already, several of the coaches placed on leave last week had been reinstated, but Farley could not specify tonight. Athletic Director and interim head football Coach Jon Hamro did publicly acknowledge that Jaime Ortiz had been returned to the sidelines.
The superintendent said tonight that the investigator hired by the district spent about eight months looking into the allegations. Farley said he had spent nearly every day over that period dealing with some aspect of the investigation.
“We didn’t want to rush it,” he said. “We let it take its course.”
Farley and the district’s lawyer Daniel Shinoff said the affected coaches had been invited to discuss their leave, and some had already met with the superintendent. Others’ attorneys had scheduling conflicts.
All had been formally notified, Shinoff said. As of today, none of the coaches placed on leave had been disciplined by the district, he said.
Hamro told parents that the events of last week had joined the players and coaches in a “common thread.”
“To be honest, it’s not really players and coaches any more,” he said. “It’s us.”
Since Hamro had been named as the leader of the team, he had already brought on two additional coaches in an assistant head coach in Pat Harlow, who played for the New England Patriots, and special teams and tight ends coach John Allred, who played for the Chicago Bears. After the meeting, the athletic director stressed that the two were not replacements but additions.
“We’re working as hard as we can to get the team ready for September 2,” he said of their first match up of the season against Long Beach’s Cabrillo High at Thalassa Stadium.
The superintendent told parents that the decision to put the coaches on leave had been difficult for administrators who had tried to be fair with their employees. He also told parents he appreciated them being there, he said.
“This is an extremely difficult situation for any of us to deal with,” Farley said.
The coaches and the kids would not be successful without the community support they enjoyed, the principal noted. Duarte told parents that San Clemente High was a great place to be.
“It’s a dream job for me,” he said, adding, “not tonight, but it is a dream job.”
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