Jones fired as BHS football coach; state Comptroller finds ‘deficiencies’ with f’ball boosters
Seeing an increase in the level of talent at Bearden High School during Josh Jones’ three years as football head coach — while beating Farragut for a second straight season last fall for the first time since the Bulldogs program won three in a row in that fierce rivalry from 1999 through 2001 — also saw his 2023 and 2024 Dawgs reach the Class 5A state quarterfinal playoffs.
Despite all that success — a 25-13 overall record with Bearden — Jones was fired as head coach, it was announced Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Morgan Shinlever, BHS athletic director, released a short statement attributed to “BHS administration:”
“Josh Jones is no longer serving as the head coach of Bearden High School’s football program.
“The school has decided to go in a different direction this year and will start the hiring process for a new head coach ahead of the 2025 season.”
Attempts to reach Jones for comment were unsuccessful.
State Comptroller-BHS Football Boosters
While no connection has been made to Jones’ firing and cited Bearden Booster Club mis-steps in how it handled various duties, which prompted a state Comptrollers Office investigation and subsequent report noting “deficiencies,” the firing did come shortly after the report was released.
In a release from “Knox County Board of Education officials: The Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury conducted an investigation of selected records of the Bearden High School Football Booster Club, and the results are presented herein.
“… The Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury investigated allegations of malfeasance related to the Bearden High School Football Booster Club. The investigation was initiated after Knox County Schools System officials reported questionable transactions.
“The investigation was limited to selected records for the period July 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2024. The results of the investigation were communicated with the office of the District Attorney General of the 6th Judicial District.
“… For the period reviewed, club officers improperly wrote 23 checks directly to BHS football coaches without KCS approval totaling at least $60,000.
“According to club officers, the payments were made to the coaches as salary supplements. … KCS administrators told investigators they were not aware of the club’s direct payments to the coaches nor did they approve them.
“... Two unnamed assistant coaches received the $60,000 over two school years, according to the Comptrollers report, paying ‘Assistant Coach 1’ $22,500 for the 2022-23 school year, then $32,500 for the 2023-24 school year.
“The coach labeled as ‘Assistant Coach 2’ was paid $5,000 during the 23-24 school year.”
The Comptrollers’ Office summed up four “Deficiencies” by the BHS Booster Club. Those included:
“Deficiency 1: ... Did not properly safeguard and maintain accurate records. Club officers either did not retain or provide investigators with all supporting documentation for meeting minutes, collections and disbursements.”
Other “deficiencies:” improper “segregation of duties,” not getting two signatures on checks and “failure to submit proper fundraiser approval forms.”
