3 coaches off the job as allegations grow in Marion County football scandal

photo From left are Marion County High School coaches Tim Starkey, Randy Kirkpatrick, Mac McCurry, Chad Rogers and Joe Dan Gudger. Starkey has been relieved of coaching duties at the school, and Gudger was arrested on charges of vandalism Tuesday. No allegations have been made against Kirkpatrick or Rogers.
photo Images taken from security cameras show Marion County High School assistant football coach Mike Schmitt buying cans of spray paint from a Walmart in Dunlap, Tenn.

TEXT MESSAGES

The Times Free Press obtained several dozen text messages between Michael Schmitt and Tim Starkey from Oct. 29-Nov. 1 from the Marion County Justice Center.Here are some excerpts that pertain to the charges that have been alleged against some members of the Marion County football staff. These messages are printed as they were written, with profanity removed.Allegations of Tim Starkey stealing playbooks from the South Pittsburg field house in the week before the game (All times Eastern):Oct. 29, 7:56 a.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "That's why I got his offense play sheet he wants to run. I was going to make copies but I just took the [expletive]. They can't prove I got it or did anything copies but I just took the [expletive]. They can't prove I got it or did anything."Oct. 29, 7:58 a.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "All got there Offense of book and D like you got of Dunlaps also. I am going to bring it to school so its not on me."Oct. 29, 7:59 a.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "That [expletive] is funny! [Expletive] them. I hope we beat their ass and are ready to fight after game!"Allegations of paying former South Pittsburg all-state running back Raquis Hale to suit up and practice against the Warriors' defense to help them adjust to South Pittsburg's speed advantage:Oct. 29, 1:10 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Raquis not coming today?"Oct. 29, 1:51 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "He told Joe Dan he had a job interview or something."Oct. 29, 1:52 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Damn"Oct. 29, 1:52 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "I know. That [expletive] helped."Oct. 29, 2:13 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Mac (McCurry) said he would give him $50 for today. Text him and tell him."Oct. 29, 2:27 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Ok"Oct. 29, 2:47 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "50 dollars for few plays ain't bad"Oct. 29, 2:47 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Raq coming"Oct. 29, 2:47 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Good [expletive]"Allegations of head coach Mac McCurry instructing assistant coaches to vandalize Marion County's football field house with orange and black paint:Oct. 31, 8:55 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Are you going to do it?"Oct. 31, 8:57 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "I really don't feel like it. I may play sleep on his ass we don't need all that to win. If I get to sleep I want to stay.Oct. 31, 8:58 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Me too. I just don't want Mac (McCurry) to get pissed for me not doing itOct. 31, 8:59 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Is he wanting it done that bad"Oct. 31, 9:00 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Yes"Oct. 31, 9:00 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Said something to me and Jo Dan twice. If I do it I don't really want it to be real early in the morn. Dude I got to go to work tomorrow. I am got to at least to lunch. I may though don't care to"Oct. 31, 9:04 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Can we do it about 11?"Oct. 31, 9:05 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Test joedan yeah let's do it at that time. I will do it then"Oct. 31, 9:17 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Dude I am sleep as hell now"Oct. 31, 9:25 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "I am wore out also. I might say [expletive] it.. I just got me some stray also. I might try to lay down."Oct. 31, 9:26 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "[Expletive] me. I just went bought this paint to."Oct. 31, 9:27 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Dam! We really could pull that [expletive] off at 4 to if we had to I think"Oct. 31, 9:27 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Me too"Oct. 31, 9:28 p.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Tell Jo Dan lets do it at 4"Oct. 31, 9:34 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Ok. You too"Oct. 31, 10:56 p.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Hey come down at 11 or 12 when we can get this [expletive] over with. Joe dan is blowing me up"Nov. 1, 4:07 a.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "I am on way pimp"Nov. 1, 4:52 a.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "It's army time. Wake up soldier"Nov. 1, 5:48 a.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Yall done yet?"Nov. 1, 5:49 a.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Just now"Nov. 1, 5:50 a.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Where yall at? I am bout to jasper"Nov. 1, 5:53 a.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "Jo Dan house"Nov. 1, 5:53 a.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Ok bout to pull up"Nov. 1, 10:03 a.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Tell Mac to make the team pick some of that [expletive] up. When it can really set in on them"Nov. 1, 10:04 a.m., Schmitt to Starkey: "We are"Nov. 1, 10:06 a.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Good"Nov. 1, 11:52 a.m., Starkey to Schmitt: "Matt Blansett is a cop but played with me in High school he said I feel like one of your coaches did it on staff. I said dude they would have told me if they was planning that. He said my gut just tells me that. Tell joe dan to clean his hands just in case"

Arkansas-Ole Miss Live Blog

JASPER, Tenn. -- What started as a ploy to motivate players and humiliate a rival team before a high school football game led to a series of alleged criminal acts and state athletics violations by the Marion County High School football program.

Early Tuesday afternoon a second Marion County High teacher and assistant coach, Joe Dan Gudger, was arrested and charged with the vandalism at the school's football fieldhouse as well as possession of alcohol on school property. Gudger is the second Marion County assistant coach to be charged with vandalism of $1,000-$10,000, following the arrest of Michael Schmitt last Wednesday.

Other allegations that came to light Tuesday include one Marion County assistant breaking into South Pittsburg's fieldhouse to steal play sheets and the coaching staff bringing in a former college player to practice with the team, which isn't permitted under state rules.

TSSAA officials now are questioning whether Marion County should continue to have a football program.

Each arrest came after a joint investigation by the Marion County Sheriff's Office and the Jasper Police Department. Both Gudger and Schmitt have been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

Following Schmitt's arrest, county investigators pulled his cellphone records and discovered conversations among Schmitt and other coaches discussing painting the fieldhouse and making it look like South Pittsburg supporters were the culprits.

The vandalism charges stem from the school's fieldhouse and other property being spray painted with vulgarities and having trash strewn over the parking lot during the early morning hours of Nov. 1. Officers involved believe the vandalism was an attempt to inspire the Marion County football team before its game against county rival South Pittsburg that night. The South Pittsburg Pirates won the game 35-17.

Later Tuesday afternoon, the Marion County school board relieved a third assistant, Tim Starkey, of his coaching duties after it was learned through text message records that Starkey had broken into the South Pittsburg fieldhouse and stolen play sheets and game plans in the week before the game.

Sheriff's deputies would not confirm or deny whether Starkey will face charges for breaking into the fieldhouse and stealing school property, but did add that the investigation is ongoing.

Starkey is a former all-state quarterback and Mr. Football finalist at South Pittsburg, having played on the 1999 Class 1A state championship team. He later worked as a Pirates volunteer assistant before joining the Marion staff as a paid assistant this season.

Also in the text messages, Starkey alludes to Schmitt, who lives in Dunlap, having also taken playbooks from Sequatchie County, before the Indians' game against Marion County on Sept. 27. According to Sequatchie County Principal Tommy Layne, after checking with head coach Ken Colquette, the football team is missing two playbooks from its fieldhouse. Marion rallied in the second half to score the last four touchdowns in that game to beat Sequatchie County 52-28.

"If you have no better morals than this, you don't need to be around kids in any way," said Layne, who also is a member of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association's Board of Control. "I'm just in shock at all of this. I've never, in all my years as an educator and coach, heard of anything as bad as this. It just makes you sick. You feel bad for the kids at Marion for having men like this as their role models."

During the same text message string, Schmitt admitted to buying the paint that was used to vandalize the fieldhouse. Investigators discovered a surveillance tape of Schmitt buying 10 cans of orange and black spray paint -- South Pittsburg's school colors -- at the Dunlap Walmart the night before the vandalism took place. Schmitt is seen on surveillance video placing the spray paint cans onto the conveyer belt and purchasing them, all while wearing a purple and white Marion County coach's sweatshirt and a purple cap with white "MC" letters.

Also on Tuesday, according to Marion County schools Superintendent Mark Griffith, the school self-reported its football program for a major TSSAA practice violation, having a nonstudent athlete suit up and practice with the team.

According to the same cellphone records police used to arrest Gudger and learn that Starkey had broken into the South Pittsburg fieldhouse, it was discovered that former South Pittsburg all-state running back Raquis Hale was paid to show up for "several" practices to help Marion players prepare for South Pittsburg's speed advantage.

"We have evidence that shows that was factual," Griffith said. "We have discovered that having [Hale] come in to practice with the team did happen and myself and [Marion County] school principal Larry Ziegler have notified the TSSAA that he was used to practice with the Marion football team for at least the week of the South Pittsburg game."

According to TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress, having someone who is not a member of the coaching staff practice with the team is considered a "major" violation. Hale is a former college athlete, having played for two seasons at Bethel University.

"Aside from being a very dangerous liability issue for the players at Marion, it definitely is a violation of TSSAA rules," Childress said. "We will set the appropriate penalty for those violations at the proper time. That will come after the criminal investigation is closed."

Practice violations typically result in having one week of practice taken away for every individual day the violation occurred.

"It's all very unfortunate for the community, school and, more especially, for the football players that this has come out again about another coach," he said. "All the remaining coaches on their staff will have to be evaluated once the police conclude their investigation."

Text messages between Schmitt and Starkey indicate that Marion head coach Mac McCurry knew about the vandalism before it occurred, as well as bringing in Hale to practice with the team.

"I can't comment on coach McCurry's future here just yet," Griffith added. "There's still an investigation ongoing."

Marion County's football program has been under TSSAA scrutiny before.

In April 2012, four months after McCurry was hired, the TSSAA banned the program from holding spring practice after it was discovered Warriors coaches had already conducted official practices for longer than the 10 days the state allows.

The TSSAA placed the program on probation at that time, and Childress said all former violations under McCurry would be considered when the state's governing body determines what punishment the program would receive now.

"Obviously it's an ongoing criminal investigation, so it's well beyond our authority right now," Childress continued. "We'll monitor the case very closely and once the criminal investigation has concluded, we'll look at the entire scenario that's happened to determine how severe the punishment will be.

"If everything that is being brought to light really happened, my question to Marion County High administrators is, 'Why should you continue to have a football program?'"

Marion County is still alive in the Class 2A playoffs, set to travel to second-ranked Trousdale County for a quarterfinal game Friday.

Contact staff writer Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.

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