Mt. Juliet football fined $1,000, placed on probation after violating TSSAA recruiting rule

Mt. Juliet's football program has been placed on two years of probation, fined $1,000 and have their fall scrimmages reduced in half as well as other penalties after the TSSAA ruled the Wilson County football program violated its recruiting rule.

At issue, according to a letter sent from TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress to Mt. Juliet principal Leigh Ann Raney, was students from outside of Mt. Juliet being invited to be part of virtual workouts with the Mt. Juliet football program and to participate in virtual position meetings via text messages sent between March 26 and April 17.

The TSSAA's recruiting rule states: "Athletic recruiting is prohibited. Athletic recruiting is the use of influence on a student or the parents or the guardians of a student, by any person(s) directly or indirectly associated with the school, to secure or retain a student for athletic purposes."

The letter stated that a current Wilson Central student was sent personal invitations to both virtual workouts and position meetings from the Mt. Juliet football program. The student is scheduled to transfer to Green Hill this fall. When notified by the school district, Mt. Juliet coach Trey Perry indicated another student was in the same situation. Both students were removed from the contact list on April 19.

Mt. Juliet coaches also used a "Remind messaging app" where coaches invited 50 students from other schools to participate in virtual workouts with the Mt. Juliet strength coach and attend virtual meetings according to the TSSAA letter. Of those 50 students, 35 are currently in four area middle schools, 14 were current students at Wilson Central and one attended Barry Tatum Academy, an alternative learning school in Wilson County.

The letter stated that the 50 students received 23 workout invitations from March 22-April 22, when it was discontinued by the district's request. Mt. Juliet administration confirmed that invitations were sent to students they believed were scheduled to attend Mt. Juliet in the fall.

The Mt. Juliet football coaching staff also attempted to keep current members of the team that were scheduled to be rezoned with Green Hill's opening, the letter stated. Emails and interviews by the district staff confirmed that parents were invited to a meeting where the coaching staff directed them to apply for zone exemptions and the content that should be in those requests. A common draft was used by parents for the out of zone requests.

Because of the infractions, the football program will be placed on probation from May 1, 2020 through May 1, 2022.

The football program is eligible to participate in the playoffs, however any additional violations involving the football program would lead to more disciplinary action.

Originally, Childress ruled that the program would not be able to hold conditioning, weightlifting or workouts the first week after the dead period (July 5-11). However, Childress said that has been amended because of safety concerns.

"We agreed to move the one week of no football workouts after the dead period to the end of the season," Childress wrote in an email to The Tennessean late Monday. "This is all about student athletes being able to get back to working out and acclimated to the heat. 

"They have been out a long time and we want to make sure they return and have time to make the adjustments safely before getting involved in any contact work."

That week of no workouts would fall after their 2020 season concluded when teams can hold weightlifting and conditioning.

Here are the penalties:

• The team can hold just two fall scrimmages in 2020 and three in 2021 and cannot participate in a jamboree either year. 
• It cannot participate in any 7-on-7 competitions or scrimmages.
• Spring practice for 2021 is reduced from 12 days over a 15-day period to seven days over a 10-day period.
• No spring scrimmage will also be allowed in 2021 or 2022.
• There is to be no in-person interest meetings with middle school students over the next two years.
• The team can hold three fall scrimmages in 2021

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.