Aledo (Texas) High School football coach Tim Buchanan was accused of bullying by a parent of an opponent following his team’s 91-0 win over Western Hills last Friday night.
Buchanan has been the coach at Aledo for 21 years and his team is 7-0 and currently ranked No. 1 in the state. They won the state championship from 2009-2011. They have outscored opponents by an average of 62 points per game this season, but they were never officially accused of bullying until this week.
Buchanan says he received an email Saturday morning from a school administrator regarding the bullying report, which was filed online by the parent of a Western Hills player following the blowout loss.
“We all witnessed bullying first hand, it is not a pretty sight,” the parent wrote in the complaint, per WFAA.
“I did not know what to say on the ride home to explain the behavior of the Aledo coaches for not easing up.”
The school is required to investigate the situation, but they likely won’t find just cause for action. Why? Buchanan says he was trying not to score in the second half and the opposing coach even said he appreciated that the coach didn’t score more knowing that they could have.
“I think the game was handled fine,” Western Hills coach John Naylor told the Fort Worth Star Telegram. “They’re No. 1 for a reason, and I know coach Buchanan. We’re fighting a real uphill battle right now.
“We just ran into a buzzsaw, you know,” Naylor said. “[Aledo] just plays hard. And they’re good sports, and they don’t talk at all. They get after it, and that’s the way football is supposed to be played in Texas.”
They went to a running clock in the third quarter, which is when all of Aledo’s starters were pulled. They began having the punt returners call for fair catches (their punt returner scored on consecutive returns earlier in the game). Buchanan says they ran fewer than 32 offense plays in the game. He says their star running back only had five carries and scored three times. Their top receiver only had one catch and scored on it.
Maybe it’s time to bump Aledo up to a tougher division so they can play teams on their level. And seriously, give me a break with this bullying nonsense.
