Carroll's core issue is failing leadership and likely a fired football coach
The head football coach is in the process of being kicked out, the girls’ basketball coach resigned, and the volleyball coach just quit, too.
One is odd. Two is peculiar. Three does not happen.
Not at a destination job like Carroll ISD, that features only one high school.
There is another larger fissure growing in Southlake right above the head of the football coach.
Carroll ISD has a major leadership issue that is fast approaching the crisis stage.
Sources said the relationship between Carroll athletic director Darren Allman and his staffers is fractured to the point quality people are leaving. And qualified candidates now might not even want to come. Not even to Carroll.
David Faltys is the highest paid school superintendent in Tarrant County, and it’s time he take over the mess that has become of the one high school athletic department he oversees.
Faltys is reportedly paid $338,488 as Carroll ISD’s superintendent, more than twice the state average for that position. BTW, he also is eligible for free housing, too.
God bless him. Go get it. Make no apologies for what you are paid.
Now, grab a shovel, maybe a hammer, and earn that check.
And be prepared to write a check for the savior who might want to return.
Faltys, Allman, the CISD school board, should be embarrassed. Nothing like what is going on inside CISD’s athletic department should happen on the high school level.
One of the worst kept secrets in Southlake is the poor relationship between Allman and head football coach Hal Wasson, who remains on paid administrative leave as the district tries to find a reason to fire him with cause.
A special board meeting has been called for Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.; no word if tickets are being sold. May as well. The place would be sold out.
Sources said the district is expected to formally dismiss coach Wasson at the meeting. Sources also indicated that Allman is interested in replacing Wasson as the head coach. Allman has served as the head coach at Colleyville Heritage, Austin Westlake and Odessa Permian before coming to CISD as athletic director.
A school district that employs four community relations and marketing-related positions can’t be this tone deaf. Or quiet.
Although ... kudos to the staffers who executed the Friday afternoon news dump to perfection. On Friday, Feb. 16, CISD issued the list of UIL violations committed by Wasson and his staff.
The 28-page report included a variety of infractions, but nothing so horrendous that necessarily merits dismissal. The UIL is expected to respond to the report within two weeks.
The issues ranged from running football camps on prohibited dates, to receiving payment for those camps, and conducting glorified practices outside of the allowed times and dates. The report is not a good look, but not awful.
How much money were these coaches receiving? Who was paying them? Was the income reported? Were any deals made with parents regarding playing time, starting positions, or spots in the varsity roster?
An athletic director grabs their hands on these issues and ends this before any report is necessary. A superintendent who is actually looking and has these two men in his office figures this out.
Buried in this report, however, is one vague word that is going to nab Wasson – “culture.” Maybe Allman, too.
The culture of the program and its policies and procedures.
The word "culture" is just vague enough to cover any number of sins.
Carroll is no different than most 6A football programs. Look hard enough and you can find disgruntled players, kids and parents. Look hard enough and you will find people who think the coach yells too much or cultivates an atmosphere that isn’t team-oriented. Whatever that means.
If Allman's intention has been to dump Wasson, the worst thing that happened was the Dragons' playoff run in 2017. No one expected Carroll to go four rounds deep into the playoffs after what was a "down" regular season.
And if this issue was just one coach, whatever lame sets of reasons given to dismiss Wasson could be believed.
But then, on Feb. 13, girls basketball coach Teri Morrison resigned after 29 years in coaching. On Friday, girls volleyball coach Ryan Mitchell said he was leaving.
He is apparently taking a lesser job at another high school as an assistant. Who leaves a loaded team that routinely is one of the best volleyball programs in the state?
All of this does not happen if competent, effective, leadership is secure. Or not insecure. One of the first rules of any athletic director is to find a good coach, and then to keep them.
What good coach is going to want to step into this situation if they feel leadership does not have their back, or worse, has a knife aimed at it?
In the history of the universe, there has never been a good athletic director without coaches who win.
Speculation among sources persists that former Carroll coach Todd Dodge might be willing to return to Southlake. Dodge, who is now the head coach at Austin Westlake, led the Dragons to four state titles from 2000 to 2006.
His son, former Dragons quarterback Riley Dodge, is currently the offensive coordinator at Justin Northwest, and he could return to Carroll for the same position with the long-term plan of eventually replacing Todd Dodge as the head coach.
Such a scenario might be a dream for many Carroll residents. It requires many moving pieces to align, but the framework is plausible.
Some of Carroll's issues are not that much different from other affluent areas with highly-involved parents who spend a lot of money, and feel their wealth should give them special treatment.
And some of Carroll's issues are a result of ineffective leadership and different agendas than the head coaches.
Carroll has one of the highest-paid superintendents in the state to deal with these issues and to ensure they don't linger.
David Faltys, the CISD board, must clean up the considerable mess that exists at the one high school athletic department they oversee.
Because, as of right now, the state of Carroll's athletic department is embarrassing.
This story was originally published February 19, 2018 at 5:46 PM with the headline "Carroll's core issue is failing leadership and likely a fired football coach."