No playoffs for Lipscomb Academy in 2024

[Gambler]

The Lipscomb football program is an embarrassment.   I never thought the program would be close to being on probation or sanctioned.  The program used to stand for character and integrity. Let's face it 2 years of no playoffs is as close to the death penalty in high school football as you can get.  

From what I hear they will not play a true freshman schedule this year.  What does that do to your future ?  Players will leave the program with no post season chance and quite frankly I don't see them being more competitive than last year which was .500. 

They basically begged Mawae to take the job which he really didn't want in the first place.  The admin traded a few good years for a decade rebuild due to blatant cheating.  I don't care if other schools break rules....it's not right... yes all D2 schools have some skeletons in the closet (even MBA & CPA) but breaking rules is not justifiable. 

Lipscomb has alienated their alumni base and from what I'm told removed all the championship trophies and adornments of the past from the facilities.  Lipscomb was a championship program before Dilfer arrived full of success although that had wained. 
 

The board voting against Lipscomb shows just how much the program is disliked by people in the state . The board voted against them not because of recruiting but due to their poor reputation across the state. 
 

What self respecting program brings in a QB in August to play from another state let alone a young man whose parents aren't moving into the area for a stated purpose. The QB is supposed to be the leader of the program not a hired commodity for 3 months.  This move was an obvious red flag and deserved the investigation it got.  
 

All schools should work within the rules of an association and if the school cannot then they should depart .  Possibly the association needs as much scrutiny as the schools are receiving currently but that is another topic. 

Edited March 2 by Gambler

[Chattanoogachoochoo]

16 minutes ago, Gambler said:

The Lipscomb football program is an embarrassment.   I never thought the program would be close to being on probation or sanctioned.  The program used to stand for character and integrity. Let's face it 2 years of no playoffs is as close to the death penalty in high school football as you can get.  

From what I hear they will not play a true freshman schedule this year.  What does that do to your future ?  Players will leave the program with no post season chance and quite frankly I don't see them being more competetive than last year which is .500 at best.  

They basically begged Mawae to take the job which he really didn't want in the first place.  The admin traded a few good years for a decade rebuild due to blatant cheating.  I don't care if other schools do it or have done it...it's not right... yes all D2 schools have some skeletons in the closet (even MBA & CPA) but breaking rules is not acceptable.  

Lipscomb has alienated their alumni base and from what I'm told removed all the championship trophies and adornments of the past from the facilities.
 

The board voting against Lipscomb shows just how much the program is disliked by people in the state . The board voted against them not because of recruiting but due to their poor reputation across the state. 
 

What self respecting program brings in a QB in August to play from another state let alone a young man whose parents aren't moving into the area for a stated purpose. The QB is supposed to be the leader of the program not a hired commodity.  This move was an obvious red flag. 
 

All schools should work within the rules of an association.  Possibly the association needs as much scrutiny as the schools are receiving. 

You are spot on and there is no justification for what was allowed to go on at Lipscomb. It was totally a lack of institutional control. I was recently told the entire story from my good friend from Franklin who plays golf and goes to church with many LA folks

Yes I am told the church of Christ community and alumni have been extremely embarrassed by the blatant cheating and win at all cost mentality.  Saying everyone else does it really doesn’t fit a Christian school mentality and the high standards that Coach McCadams had established. I thought their purpose was to be “set apart”.  Mawae was a good guy who inherited an out of control program with alumni, parents  and assistants.  Parents jumped on the Dilfer bandwagon and it was a great idea until all their children and grandchildren became water boys while players from 10-12 other states came and took their places. Several dads were excited to buy their sons a couple of championships. Dilfer bails on the team 2 days before the 2022 Blue Cross Bowl after he made his movie.  He had promised everyone he was at LA for the long haul. Last summer after the second scrimmage they panicked that their other 2 QB recruits were not good enough so Knight was brought in to live with another player. Of course an apartment was rented so he could have an address. All the while the school said his parents moved here but never did.  When a Memphis school reported it Knight was suddenly homesick.  Rumors are UT had a little something in orchestrating the move. Knight then committed to Notre Dame. He did nothing wrong and was a victim.  Of course there is the famous text message as well.  My source said had the TSSAA wanted to really to dig deeper in all financial information it could have been far worse than 2 years.  He was surprised that Lipscomb being a Christian school even appealed the decision.  They have now hired all of Dilfers assistants as coaches. Hopefully they learned their lesson. Sadly some innocent kids who were not part of the shenanigans will have to suffer. 

[Gambler]

19 minutes ago, Chattanoogachoochoo said:

You are spot on and there is no justification for what was allowed to go on at Lipscomb. It was totally a lack of institutional control. I was recently told the entire story from my good friend from Franklin who plays golf and goes to church with many LA folks

Yes I am told the church of Christ community and alumni have been extremely embarrassed by the blatant cheating and win at all cost mentality.  Saying everyone else does it really doesn’t fit a Christian school mentality and the high standards that Coach McCadams had established. I thought their purpose was to be “set apart”.  Mawae was a good guy who inherited an out of control program with alumni, parents  and assistants.  Parents jumped on the Dilfer bandwagon and it was a great idea until all their children and grandchildren became water boys while players from 10-12 other states came and took their places. Several dads were excited to buy their sons a couple of championships. Dilfer bails on the team 2 days before the 2022 Blue Cross Bowl after he made his movie.  He had promised everyone he was at LA for the long haul. Last summer after the second scrimmage they panicked that their other 2 QB recruits were not good enough so Knight was brought in to live with another player. Of course an apartment was rented so he could have an address. All the while the school said his parents moved here but never did.  When a Memphis school reported it Knight was suddenly homesick.  Rumors are UT had a little something in orchestrating the move. Knight then committed to Notre Dame. He did nothing wrong and was a victim.  Of course there is the famous text message as well.  My source said had the TSSAA wanted to really to dig deeper in all financial information it could have been far worse than 2 years.  He was surprised that Lipscomb being a Christian school even appealed the decision.  They have now hired all of Dilfers assistants as coaches. Hopefully they learned their lesson. Sadly some innocent kids who were not part of the shenanigans will have to suffer. 

Interesting points...I don't fault the school for appealing the decision...I can't take away a school or individuals right to due process.  
 

As for the Deuce deal as well as the text message those were just symptoms of a greater problem the TSSAA knew about and then could finally act on.  
 

Honestly I won't be critical of the "new" staff.  Dilfer demoted the OC so he left years ago and I don't think the new head coach has returned with the same mindset.  Also those coaches had to know sanctions were possible when taking the job.  Additionally of note the AD that was at Lipscomb when Dilfer was hired left a few years ago (no comment) so a new leadership exists.  
 

Again the problem of Lipscomb football is far greater than two incidents. Of note none of the other programs at Lipscomb have been in trouble so this is confined to football. 
 

The new staff deserves a chance to right the ship but the mistakes from the past will linger. 

[Chattanoogachoochoo]

8 minutes ago, Gambler said:

Interesting points...I don't fault the school for appealing the decision...I can't take away a school or individuals right to due process.  
 

As for the Deuce deal as well as the text message those were just symptoms of a greater problem the TSSAA knew about and then could finally act on.  
 

Honestly I won't be critical of the "new" staff.  Dilfer demoted the OC so he left years ago and I don't think the new head coach has returned with the same mindset.  Also those coaches had to know sanctions were possible when taking the job.  Additionally of note the AD that was at Lipscomb when Dilfer was hired left a few years ago (no comment) so a new leadership exists.  
 

Again the problem of Lipscomb football is far greater than two incidents. Of note none of the other programs at Lipscomb have been in trouble so this is confined to football. 
 

The new staff deserves a chance to right the ship but the mistakes from the past will linger. 

100% correct. Hopefully schools here in Chattanooga and Cleveland areas as well as the Knoxville area will clean up some shady doings as well 

[ChuckDSanAntonio]

Did anyone else find several of the points in the interview a bit odd?

- Dexter Williams is a Public school representative as a voter, but a coach at a private school.  The comment was, if he wanted to be re-elected he had to vote the way he did

- one of the voters against is from  a school with notorious shenanigans in West TN that couldn’t be pulled of at Centennial high school in Nashville

- the Chattanooga boarding schools are going and getting students from out of country.  D2AAA is a different animal.

- the text message with Scott Cooper to connect him with additional aid sources was the source of the recruiting violation.  His son is at Ensworth which is considerably more expensive than Lipscomb Academy .  If he needed aid at Lipscomb Academy, he needed more aid at Ensworth.

- The athlete at the center of it was enrolled in the school.  I don’t think the spirit of the recruiting rules is to prevent helping a kid that’s already enrolled pay for tuition.  

- somebody had some bones to pick.  This isn’t at all about the kids.

Listen to the segment:

https://omny.fm/shows/high-school-sports-saturday-with-tate-mathews/hsss-tom-kreager-85

[BingoLong]

8 hours ago, ChuckDSanAntonio said:

Did anyone else find several of the points in the interview a bit odd?

- Dexter Williams is a Public school representative as a voter, but a coach at a private school.  The comment was, if he wanted to be re-elected he had to vote the way he did

- one of the voters against is from  a school with notorious shenanigans in West TN that couldn’t be pulled of at Centennial high school in Nashville

- the Chattanooga boarding schools are going and getting students from out of country.  D2AAA is a different animal.

- the text message with Scott Cooper to connect him with additional aid sources was the source of the recruiting violation.  His son is at Ensworth which is considerably more expensive than Lipscomb Academy .  If he needed aid at Lipscomb Academy, he needed more aid at Ensworth.

- The athlete at the center of it was enrolled in the school.  I don’t think the spirit of the recruiting rules is to prevent helping a kid that’s already enrolled pay for tuition.  

- somebody had some bones to pick.  This isn’t at all about the kids.

Listen to the segment:

https://omny.fm/shows/high-school-sports-saturday-with-tate-mathews/hsss-tom-kreager-85

Please don't try to make it seem like Lipscomb was wronged here. They danced with the devil and lost. End of story.

[ChuckDSanAntonio]

49 minutes ago, BingoLong said:

Please don't try to make it seem like Lipscomb was wronged here. They danced with the devil and lost. End of story.

As a reminder, here is how it went down and what the rulings were based on.  
 

From Tom Kreager’s article on Oct 30, 2023.
 

Text messages link Lipscomb Academy to recruiting rule violation

Reeves wrote in his decision that text message exchanges from a Lipscomb Academy football staff member and a father of an athlete violated the TSSAA's recruiting rule — the most significant allegation outlined Monday.

The father told the staff member that Lipscomb wasn't renewing his son's financial aid. The staffer, who has not been identified, offered to "look into it." But that alone, the TSSAA said, wasn't how Lipscomb violated the recruiting rule.

The violation occurred when the coach continued: "Also we have donors who feel called to help... Im [sic] glad to intercede but don't want to interfere." In another text the staffer wrote: "I literally had 3hr [sic] lunch today with a guy paying the difference for several guys..."

Reeves added in the letter to Schultz: "You have indicated that coach (staff member) was making a short-hand reference to a donor to the Good Samaritan Fund at Lipscomb Academy. Our reading of this communication suggests that Coach (staff member) was offering to 'intercede' with donors to help secure financial assistance for the family."

Speaking of bones to pick - who / what was the source of providing the text exchange to the TSSAA?  Scott Cooper?  Was he mad that his sons financial aid wasn’t going to be renewed (which is a clearinghouse determination). That actually shows a level of above board by the administration for a high potential athlete.  I presume the same clearinghouse had the same determination for his enrollment at Ensworth and they would have been looking for 2x to 3x more financial support to attend En$worth.

[theunderstudy]

[LetMeSpin]

On 3/1/2024 at 7:41 PM, Gambler said:

 

Lipscomb has alienated their alumni base and from what I'm told removed all the championship trophies and adornments of the past from the facilities.  Lipscomb was a championship program before Dilfer arrived full of success although that had wained. 
 

 

If it makes you feel any better, this isnt true at all. They have a lot of past memorabilia on display as well as trophies from before Dilfer was there in the football facility. 

[BingoLong]

3 hours ago, ChuckDSanAntonio said:

As a reminder, here is how it went down and what the rulings were based on.  
 

From Tom Kreager’s article on Oct 30, 2023.
 

Text messages link Lipscomb Academy to recruiting rule violation

Reeves wrote in his decision that text message exchanges from a Lipscomb Academy football staff member and a father of an athlete violated the TSSAA's recruiting rule — the most significant allegation outlined Monday.

The father told the staff member that Lipscomb wasn't renewing his son's financial aid. The staffer, who has not been identified, offered to "look into it." But that alone, the TSSAA said, wasn't how Lipscomb violated the recruiting rule.

The violation occurred when the coach continued: "Also we have donors who feel called to help... Im [sic] glad to intercede but don't want to interfere." In another text the staffer wrote: "I literally had 3hr [sic] lunch today with a guy paying the difference for several guys..."

Reeves added in the letter to Schultz: "You have indicated that coach (staff member) was making a short-hand reference to a donor to the Good Samaritan Fund at Lipscomb Academy. Our reading of this communication suggests that Coach (staff member) was offering to 'intercede' with donors to help secure financial assistance for the family."

Speaking of bones to pick - who / what was the source of providing the text exchange to the TSSAA?  Scott Cooper?  Was he mad that his sons financial aid wasn’t going to be renewed (which is a clearinghouse determination). That actually shows a level of above board by the administration for a high potential athlete.  I presume the same clearinghouse had the same determination for his enrollment at Ensworth and they would have been looking for 2x to 3x more financial support to attend En$worth.

Again, still diverting from the ultimate truth. Lipscomb broke rules AND GOT CAUGHT.  Was Scott Cooper trying to get Lipscomb back for not releasing his boy? Of course. Were there any red flags at Lipscomb when he ran out on BA to begin with to come to LA? Should have been. LA was just next in line. If his kid is not the focus point at Ensworth they will get the same result. Is it sad that he pimps his kid like no other? Absolutely.

Chuck, you cannot tell me you didn't know about Duece's living arrangement the whole time he and his cousin were here. You knew just like everybody else. But because ya'll thought it would help you win you turned a blind eye. Do other schools fudge financial aid and cheat? Absolutely. Do other schools bring in kids from all over the country and act like it was coincidence that they all go back home after the season ends? Eh.

Wasted tears. Pay the piper. Get better cheaters on staff.

[ocac]

On 3/1/2024 at 8:43 PM, Chattanoogachoochoo said:

You are spot on and there is no justification for what was allowed to go on at Lipscomb. It was totally a lack of institutional control. I was recently told the entire story from my good friend from Franklin who plays golf and goes to church with many LA folks

Yes I am told the church of Christ community and alumni have been extremely embarrassed by the blatant cheating and win at all cost mentality.  Saying everyone else does it really doesn’t fit a Christian school mentality and the high standards that Coach McCadams had established. I thought their purpose was to be “set apart”.  Mawae was a good guy who inherited an out of control program with alumni, parents  and assistants.  Parents jumped on the Dilfer bandwagon and it was a great idea until all their children and grandchildren became water boys while players from 10-12 other states came and took their places. Several dads were excited to buy their sons a couple of championships. Dilfer bails on the team 2 days before the 2022 Blue Cross Bowl after he made his movie.  He had promised everyone he was at LA for the long haul. Last summer after the second scrimmage they panicked that their other 2 QB recruits were not good enough so Knight was brought in to live with another player. Of course an apartment was rented so he could have an address. All the while the school said his parents moved here but never did.  When a Memphis school reported it Knight was suddenly homesick.  Rumors are UT had a little something in orchestrating the move. Knight then committed to Notre Dame. He did nothing wrong and was a victim.  Of course there is the famous text message as well.  My source said had the TSSAA wanted to really to dig deeper in all financial information it could have been far worse than 2 years.  He was surprised that Lipscomb being a Christian school even appealed the decision.  They have now hired all of Dilfers assistants as coaches. Hopefully they learned their lesson. Sadly some innocent kids who were not part of the shenanigans will have to suffer. 

Where to start............Coach McCadams, RIP, is rolling over in his grave over the Lipscomb shenanigans.  My father, former longtime TN high school head coach/Administrator, and Coach McCadams were extremely close.  They coached together on several All-Star showcase games and competed against each other as well.  When I became a head coach myself, my teams competed against Coach McCadams as well.  We became close as well, as well as some of his former staff.  Some of which are still at LA in some various capacities.  They see it first hand on a daily basis and are embarrassed by what is/has been going on.  Some of the stories I have been told by LA staff members are unreal, if true.  If I had to guess, LA is extremely lucky that TSSAA did not really push the issue beyond what facts we already know.  I hate it for the kids that adults have to get in the way.

[Chattanoogachoochoo]

2 hours ago, ocac said:

Where to start............Coach McCadams, RIP, is rolling over in his grave over the Lipscomb shenanigans.  My father, former longtime TN high school head coach/Administrator, and Coach McCadams were extremely close.  They coached together on several All-Star showcase games and competed against each other as well.  When I became a head coach myself, my teams competed against Coach McCadams as well.  We became close as well, as well as some of his former staff.  Some of which are still at LA in some various capacities.  They see it first hand on a daily basis and are embarrassed by what is/has been going on.  Some of the stories I have been told by LA staff members are unreal, if true.  If I had to guess, LA is extremely lucky that TSSAA did not really push the issue beyond what facts we already know.  I hate it for the kids that adults have to get in the way.

My Franklin buddy told me at the Blue Cross Bowl that The whole Duece Knight thing was a disaster and unfair to that young man.  Lipscomb said his parents were moving.  That’s a lie.  Lipscomb set up an address for a Nolensville Road apartment while the young man lived with another player. This was far deeper than a couple of texts. If this text came to light how many dozens more went to countless other players who were illegally brought in.  A group of parents had to buy their children two championship rings.  This totally disgusted and alienated most of the MCAdams former players.  When you cheat the innocent often suffer with the guilty.  Time to pay the piper.