The Tip Line Is Open. Here's How It Works.

Yesterday, we launched the Tip Line on FiredCoaches.org In the first stretch alone, here is just a small sample of what rolled in. Names removed, and we will get to why in a second:

• A junior transfer whose "move" consisted of Dad renting an apartment nobody lives in. Little sister? Still enrolled at the old school. The whole family unit moving was not a suggestion, but it would appear no one told the Dad that was the case.
• Two all-region players jumping schools inside the same county, from a first round playoff team to a quarterfinalist. Because nothing says "bona fide move" like moving down the road to a team that won't play other teams because "y'all recruit". They must be looking in the mirror because this one is caught red-handed.
• A transfer where Mom never left town, but a mysterious third party handled the housing. And maybe a car. Allegedly. The third party is always so generous in these stories. Real Secret Santa but in July. #AGTG

• A kid who is reportedly getting paid to play and, per multiple tipsters, cannot stop telling people about it. Don't act surprised when the GHSA comes asking because you decided to trust a 15 year old to not broadcast his boost in financial success.
• At an FCA Camp we had two grown men allegedly so overcome with the power of Christ that they felt the only way to show this was through having a physical altercation with one another. #TGBTG

• A private school out of state that keeps showing up connected to an agent we have already covered. The spider web keeps growing legs and it's shocking how anyone trusts this guy in the first place.

So yes. The tip line works. Now let's talk about how it gets handled, because this part matters more than the tips themselves.

Rule 1: Rumor and Whispers are not proof.

One tip does not mean I am going to post anything about the situation. Especially if there is not one shred of proof attached to it.

Anybody can type a name into a submission box. A bitter parent. A rival coach. A booster who didn't get his way. If we ran everything that hit the inbox, this account would be a landfill inside a week, and every legitimate thing we post would get buried with it.

A tip gets us looking. Receipts get us posting. There is a difference, and for any of you who have followed this account for long know that I do not post something without being able to provide the receipts if questioned by those saying it is not true.

Rule 2: Kids Get Different Treatment Than Adults

If a grown man with a title and a paycheck is running a dirty operation, that is fair game. He signed up for the scrutiny when he cashed the check.

A 16 year old whose parents made a decision for him? Different animal. The kid did not file the paperwork. The kid did not rent the ghost apartment. The kid did not arrange the housing or the car. Adults did that. So when these kind of things get covered, the aim stays on the adults who built the scheme, not the teenager riding in the passenger seat of it.

If your tip is really just "I want you to torch this kid," save your typing. Wrong account.

Rule 3: The Courtroom Standard Still Applies

I have said it before and it still holds. There is nothing posted from this account that I would be ashamed to have read back to me publicly or in a courtroom. That standard does not bend because the inbox got busier.

Which means some of you are going to send in absolute heaters, and then get frustrated when they don't appear the next morning. Good. That means the system is working. Some of these are cooking. Some need a second source. Some need a document. And some are going to die in the inbox because they cannot be stood up, no matter how juicy they read.

Patience. The ones that are real tend to prove themselves. They always do.

Rule 4: Anonymity Runs Both Directions

You already know where I stand on anonymity. It is not hiding. It is intentional. It removes leverage, bias, and the backdoor phone call to somebody's boss.

That same protection applies to you. Nobody is getting outed. No screenshots with your handle floating around. No "a source close to the program" descriptions specific enough to get you fired. You send it, it stays sealed. That is the whole deal, and it is why coaches who would never touch this stuff publicly are comfortable sending it here.

You know who benefits from you staying quiet? The people doing it. That's it. That's the list.

What Makes a Good Tip or Rumor

Since we're here, a quick guide:

Good: Dates. Names of the adults involved. Documents. Enrollment details. Who arranged what. Anything verifiable by a second person who isn't your buddy repeating what you told him. If you claim this is X Coach from X school on the screen shot, you best have the last for digits of the phone number for me to put anything out there with certainty.

Less good: "Everybody knows." Everybody knowing is not evidence. You having at least something or someone to follow-up with is always a good thing, but it is still a much harder thing to prove.

Useless: If you say "just ask x coach" that isn't proof. Word of mouth means absolutely nothing especially if there is a perceived bias attached to it. You can scream it from the mountain tops that "The former X Coach will tell you all the recruiting that took place" and I might believe him.. But It isn't proof.

The Bottom Line

The transfer era isn't slowing down. The fake addresses aren't slowing down. The third party landlords with hearts of gold aren't slowing down. And apparently grown men shoving each other at church camp isn't slowing down either.

So the tip line stays open. Send it all. The measured stuff gets vetted. The real stuff gets more attention and effort. The adults running dirty operations get the spotlight they earned. And the kids caught in the middle of it get left out of the crosshairs, because somebody in this ecosystem should act like an adult.

(PS: Create your account on the website & don't miss an update or rumor. It's free and always will be.)

That's all I got. /

Our friends at Coachingshare.com vet their resources better than most schools vet their transfer paperwork. Give them a follow and share them across your Athletic Department!

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