PALESTINE, Texas — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above aired Oct. 22.
A UIL State Executive Committee ruled Westwood ISD head coach Richard Bishop to be removed for the remainder of the season.
During a UIL emergency meeting Thursday, the SEC ruled that Bishop would be removed from UIL football for the remainder of the season, including regular season and post-season playoff games, and two years of probation for all of next year in addition to a public reprimand. They also ruled Donald McCoy to not attend or be involved in UIL activities for the next year.
Superintendent Wade Stanford confirmed that the 9-3A Division I District Executive Committee recommended that Bishop be suspended.
According to Dave Campbell's Texas Football, Bishop is accused of videotaping opponents while scouting. The football news outlet said Westwood would have to forfeit all district games for the 2024 season.
During the meeting, Bishop alleged he was unaware Donald McCoy was recording while sitting next to him at the game. McCoy said he filmed a few plays to send to his girlfriend in Virginia. He said nobody told him to record and that it was his idea to begin filming.
Bishop stated he did not watch McCoy's video and instructed him to delete it to avoid allegations of cheating.
DEC chair Brian Bowman pointed out inconsistencies in testimony about how long McCoy was recording and what exactly was recorded. The Committee Chair found Bishop's testimony that he didn't know McCoy was filming "hard to believe."
McCoy testified discrepancies between his testimony at the emergency meeting and the DEC while under oath were due to stress caused by the trial.
Andrew Rhoden Esq., Bishop and McCoy's lawyer, argued recording an entire game on a cell phone was "unrealistic," and pointed out that it is not against UIL rules to record a band performance. Rhoden further claimed that according to the metadata, the videos shared with him by the defense was unaltered.
In Bishop's final statement, he reiterated that he has never been involved with a rule violation over his 17-years-long career in athletics. He stated that comments made at the DEC were "egregious and personal," and said there was possibly a "hidden agenda" behind accusations that he asked other individuals to film other UIL games.
Bowman defended the questioning at the DEC, arguing that his line of questioning was not personal but rather out of concern for defending student athletes. He also said Bishop has a responsibility for the actions made and that he did not blame McCoy for the filming.
McCoy testified that he had no intention of any sort of cheating.
Westwood ISD Superintendent Wade Stanford said the district understands the rules were violated and has no contest with the decision of the committee. Stanford asked the committee to understand the commitment of the student body in their decision to forfeit Westwood's games during the season.
"In our district, we value student voice and we're working tremendously hard to incorporate community voice. We also value standards, and those standards are high. We've had adults that haver missed that standard and ultimately I've missed that standard as the leader of the district. But the ones that haven't are our kids. And that's not just our football team, but that's our band, cheerleaders, drill, other sport groups and student body, and the other ones that upheld this standard is our community. And they worked hard at that."
The committee ultimately voted unanimously to not forfeit any of the Westwood ISD games.
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