A major recruiting violation has led to a Tennessee high school football program being placed on restrictive probation and being barred from postseason play this season.
Wynton Jackson of the Knox News Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported on Wednesday, Oct. 21, that Karns High School football coach Lee Warren had been accused of trying to recruit a player that was not already at Karns.
This led to an investigation by the Tennessee Sports Secondary Athletic Association.The resulting investigation concluded that the accusation was confirmed and reached Level 3 of the TSSAA's recruiting rule violations.
Level 3 is considered "targeted recruiting.” That includes "direct, private, or third-party contact initiated by a person directly or indirectly
associated with a school to a specific student-athlete enrolled at another school to solicit or encourage that student-athlete's enrollment," per the TSSAA Bylaws.
"We learned of the situation when a voicemail was shared with our staff, which appeared to indicate that a Karns High School staff member was asked by the head football coach to contact the mother of a student who was not enrolled at Karns and encourage him to attend Karns High School and participate in football," a letter from the TSSAA reads. "After a Zoom meeting with TSSAA staff, the Karns High School administration investigated further and confirmed that the head football coach asked the staff member to contact the student-athlete's mother."
Along with being placed on restrictive probation and a postseason ban for this season, Karns can either suspend Warren for a game, pay a $500 fine or face further punishment.
The school in total has been fined $2,750 in total and all TSSAA-permitted offseason practices for next season have also been disallowed. For the following season, they'll be allowed just six days of offseason practice during a 15 consecutive-day period.
This season, Karns is 3-5 and already sitting outside of a postseason spot with a 2-3 record in Region 2-5A play. The Beavers are scheduled to play at home against Knox West (TN) on Oct. 23 and will close out the season on Oct. 30 at home against Knox Central (TN).
Follow Sports Reporter Joe Spears on X at @joe_spears7 or via email: JSpears@usatodayco.com. For additional high school sports coverage, be sure to follow USA TODAY High School Sports on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tennessee high school football program facing consequences for recruiting violation
