With ‘impaired driving, other charges,’ Matthews resigns
One of Knoxville Catholic High School’s most successful coaches in Fighting Irish sports history has resigned after having been “suspended indefinitely with pay,” the result of what a KCHS press released stated as “impaired driving and other charges” late last week.
Steve Matthews, 50, who led Knoxville Catholic football to a pair of TSSAA state championships in eight years as head coach with the program, was charged with driving under the influence and a drugs/narcotics violation/misdemeanor-simple possession charge following a Knoxville Police Department stop near the intersection of Maloney Road and Alcoa Highway at 11:40 p.m., Thursday, April 1, a KPD Initial Incident Report from Officer D. Griffith stated.
“Dr. Sedonna Prater, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Knoxville, and Dickie Sompayrac, president of Knoxville Catholic High School, have accepted the resignation of KCHS head football coach Steve Matthews, effective immediately,” the school press released stated Monday evening, April 5.
“We are grateful for the years of service that Steve has given Knoxville Catholic High School,” Sompayrac stated. “He’s a championship caliber coach and we regret that his tenure at KCHS has ended this way. We respect Steve’s decision and we will pray for him and his family as he moves ahead.”
“The search for a new head football coach ... begins immediately,” the release stated.
