Last week a few social media posts made by a former local high school football coach and some of his supporters caused quite a stir in the area.
In the posts, former Westside Coach Jon Wiley alleged wrongdoing by everyone from his own principal, an opposing coach and the Georgia High School Association. He saved his most scathing comments and assertions for Richmond County Assistant Superintendent Scott McClintock.
Wiley claimed that McClintock worked with Richmond Academy to hurt Westside’s football program, did not lift a hand to help other school’s with similar cases before the GHSA and threatened to fire him if he made his concerns public. These are extremely serious accusations that, if true, could cost people their jobs.
Back on Jan. 23, prior to his social media posts, Wiley contacted me regarding the situation. He sent me a lengthy written overview of his side of the story, several emails and even some taped phone conversations. I briefly reviewed the information but did not see it really amounting to much and did not deem it necessary to do a story. I wasn’t pushing it under the rug. I simply felt like the allegations did not have merit, and these types of claims were too serious to simply hurl them out without some concrete evidence to back them up. However, once the Wiley’s story reached social media, it was apparent I needed to take a deeper dive into the allegations.
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First, in an attempt at full disclosure, I consider Scott McClintock a dear friend. I have lived in the area all my life and either played or covered high school sports for over 30 years. In that time, I have built friendships with hundreds of coaches, teachers, and administrators.
So, it is only natural I am friends or acquaintances with most of the local individuals mentioned by Wiley. That said, I would not put those friendships over telling the truth and reporting the facts. So, that is what I set out to do last week…get to bottom of this story and report the facts.
Initially when I heard the story, I found it hard to believe. You have to understand, the main target of the allegations has an impeccable record. Scott McClintock got into education a little later than some, but he quickly built a sterling reputation. He spent 13 years at Westside, moving all the way from teacher and assistant coach to principal. Then, when the county needed to fill a principal’s position at Richmond Academy, based on his work at Westside, McClintock was tabbed as the man for the job. After helping to improve test scores and the overall atmosphere, McClintock was then offered a position at the Board of Education Office. It was a meteoric rise for sure. So, I wanted to make sure the information I was given could be vetted. The problem was, at almost every turn, there was simply no evidence at all. I decided to take each allegation one-by-one.
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1. Wiley accused the GHSA of not responding to him and ignoring his many attempts to alert them to rules violations by McCintock, Richmond Academy, and ARC Head Coach Lyle Burns. He also felt like McClintock, Burns and possibly his own principal were working against him.
I have long been a critic of the GHSA, but this assertion is simply not true. Wiley sent emails to the GHSA on Nov. 2, 4, and 8, regarding a student-athlete. Then on Nov. 15, he followed up again, stating that he had not heard from them. Less than 15 minutes later, an email was sent the following email from GHSA Executive Director Robin Hines.
“Information regarding eligibility at a member school is confidential. You will not hear from Mr. Wright; his business is with the school with whom the allegation is directed. Thank you for your concern and email.”
So, they did respond. Furthermore, action was taken in each of the three cases Wiley brought to my attention. The trickiest case involved a former student-athlete Cordavian Waymond. Waymond had spent three years at ARC but was attending on a waiver and did not live in that zone.
ARC principal was cleaning house at the time, and any student who was out of zone and not following their obligations to get a waiver were basically being sent back to the school they were zoned for. Waymond was beyond the limit on absences, so he was sent packing. Medlin was well within his rights to take this action, and it happens all the time at other schools.
However, one thing he did not take into account was that some of the people removed were involved in athletics, and due to GHSA Rules and By-Laws regarding transfers, these athletes would likely be ineligible because they did not have a hardship to transfer to another school. Waymond had been practicing with Westside during the off-season, but once word got out that he, and others, would be ineligible, the GHSA was contacted.
After assessing the situation, the GHSA ruled that the players could obviously attend either school, but in order to be eligible for sports they must return to their original school. Waymond’s mother chose to send him back to ARC. In this instance, McClintock, Medlin and the GHSA did what was right for the player, but Wiley took this as ARC Head Coach Lyle Burns “stealing” one of his players.
I reached out to the GHSA for comment, and while they would not speak directly on the matter, Mr. Hines responded to my email stating that in his dealings with Scott McClintock had been professional and within the constitution and by-laws.
The same goes for Brian Green, Jontavis Curry and John Miniweather…all players mentioned by Wiley in the information he provided me. In each instance, the GHSA made a decision or ruling. This was not a case of McClintock, Burns, Medlin or Westside Principal Bill Smith involved in some grand scheme to hurt Westside. Keep in mind, McClintock spent 13 years at Westside and his mentor, Gerald Barnes, is still at Westside. Why would he want to hurt their programs or school in any way?
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2. State Playoff Trip to Thomasville
Wiley said he felt caught off guard and surprised that McClintock accompanied Westside on their trip to Thomasville for the opening round of the state playoff. He speculated that this was an attempt for McClintock to intimidate him. An administrator must accompany the teams on these types of trips. It is fairly common for someone in McClintock’s position to travel with the team if, for example, the school’s administrators could not attend.
3. Wiley sent a picture he copied from a player’s Hudl Video. Far off in the background, you can see McClintock and Principal Smith standing beside one another, apparently talking.
Once again, something that is seen at almost every game. It is only natural for an administrator to chat with a principal when they see one another at an event. Wiley said he felt they were talking about him. To be honest, I would have been more surprised if the two men did not stop for a moment and talk at the game.
4. Wiley claimed McClintock did not help Laney with an eligibility issue with that same vigor he did when assisting Westside.
This claim lost steam with a couple of phone calls. The truth is, McClintock met with Laney officials on multiple occasions and did submit a report on their behalf to the GHSA. Once again, the GHSA decision or ruling may not have been to Wiley’s liking but that is a far cry from he claimed.
5. Finally, the most serious claim is that McClintock threatened Wiley’s job at Westside.
I was not at the meeting when this allegedly took place. Wiley took a specific comment from McClintock as a threat to his future employment. McClintock was not allowed to speak with me for this story, but according to Wiley’s own recollection, the comment seemed vague. McClintock, could have just as easily meant that decisions have been made by the GHSA and it was a moot point. Wiley also offered up a phone conversation between himself and Westside Principal Bill Smith as evidence that he was threatened.
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While it seems things did get a little heated in the meeting, in the phone conversation that Wiley provided, it is certainly no indication that his job was threatened. Smith states that he “had never seen Scott (McClintock) like that.”
Wiley posted this clip on Facebook implying that it was proof that McClintock threatened his job. If he had let the recording play a little longer, you would have heard Smith explain that he felt the reason Scott seemed mad was because he felt Wiley was not listening to what he had to say or getting the point he was trying to make. That seems a lot less damning.
Please understand that I do not want this column to simply be a “Bash Jon Wiley” session. I knew him as a player, was impressed with the job he had done as Westside’s head coach, and really think he is a good person. Therefore, it is a sad day really.
Wiley resigned at Westside to take another, more lucrative, job. However, he told me he would have stayed at Westside had all of this not taken place, and I have no reason not to believe him. I also have no doubt that Wiley cared deeply about his players and wanted the program at Westside (his alma mater) to have success. So, part of me is sick that the kids at Westside lost a good leader and coach.
Perhaps Wiley did feel his job was in jeopardy and felt like some people were not on his side, but that is a far cry from some of the claims he made. When people’s livelihoods are at stake, you simply cannot throw out something you feel to be true, you think is happening, or appeared to be taking place. You must investigate and have absolute facts.
Some of you may have been quick to side with the coach, and I totally get it. The RCBOE will not let any of the parties involve talk about the case, so you are hearing one side of the story. You don’t know the entire story.
For example, what if you knew McClintock raved about what a great coach Wiley was and terrific job he was doing at Westside in late October. I know this happened for sure because I was the person he was telling. Would he make those comments if he was trying to force him out? That is one reason I was instantly skeptical when Wiley made his claims. Also, when he was informed that Wiley was stepping down, Principal Smith attempted to talk him into staying…again, why would he do that if he was part of this plot against Wiley.
I think Jon Wiley let some heated moments and a lack of communication on both sides get the better of him. He told me “perhaps I care too much.” He even seemed to want to assist in making sure this came to a resolution that was fair to everyone. I certainly hope that is the case because these are all good people. Richmond County’s School System and our young people would be the victims if these men were no longer advocates on their behalf.
Ashley Brown covers sports for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Ashley.brown@theaugustapress.com
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