OSSAA extends Jenks suspensions
The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activities Association suspended Jenks head coach Allan Trimble and assistant coach David Alexander indefinitely on Wednesday during their Board of Directors meeting in Oklahoma City.
The board voted unanimously to suspend the coaches for the rest of the school year and agreed to consider reinstating Trimble and Alexander at their June 2010 meeting.
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Going into the meeting, the possibility of the program being put on probation was still up in the air, which would have resulted in a post-season ban for the Trojans during the 2009 season. The Jenks football team is currently ranked #1 in Class 6A, the state's largest football classification.
In a short statement to the media, Jenks superintendent Kirby Lehman expressed his satisfaction with the board's decision to not cut the Trojans' season short.
"The OSSAA board of directors gave us the opportunity to have a full and fair hearing," Lehman said. "We were very pleased with being able to present a significant amount of information. They were very attentive throughout the presentation. They asked questions. We answered those questions, and obviously they went into deliberation and made the decision."
"We are very pleased that our student-athletes, the football players in particular, will be able to play a full season and did not receive a penalty."
Trimble's suspension stems from an investigation ordered by Jenks Public Schools after Jarrett Lake, a starter on the Jenks football team and a Oklahoma commit was ruled ineligible by the OSSAA in late July. Several recruiting violations were found and that report was presented to the OSSAA board in Wednesday's meeting.
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Assistant Coach David Alexander, a former NFL player that also owns a construction company, admitted in his interview with Tulsa law firm Rosenstein, Fist & Ringold that he gave money for Christmas presents and an electric bill to an unnamed Jenks football player's mother.
Both coaches will not be allowed contact with Jenks football program and will forfeit their coaching stipends for this season. Trimble has been reassigned to another school within the school district but will still receive his full teachers' salary.
Jenks athletic director Tony Dillingham was also suspended 15 days last Friday when the initial press conference was held to announce the penalties for Trimble and Alexander. Clyde "Red" Griffith, a volunteer with the Jenks football program was also suspended for the rest of the school year after it was found that he had rented a room to Jarrett Lake, which allowed him to play football at Jenks.
Lake moved into the Griffith residence after attending one year of high school in North Carolina and another at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia. He would later move into the home of Tyrone Lynn, the father of Gabe Lynn, one of the Lake's teammates and an Oklahoma signee.
Allan Trimble has won nine state championships in his time at Jenks after taking over for legendary coach Ron Lancaster in 1996. Jenks is currently the #26 team in the latest RivalsHigh 100 ranking.
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