The Bellevue High School football program violated state rules for years with head coach Butch Goncharoff playing a leading role in major infractions.
That was the finding of an independent investigation commissioned by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Details of the 68-page report were made public on Tuesday.
The report says Bellevue school and district administrators also “deliberately interfered with or obstructed” the probe into a football program that has won 11 state championships since 2001.
Among the most damning findings of the investigation:
• Players’ families provided false addresses to the district to gain eligibility to the football program. District officials displayed a “willful blindness” to verify whether dozens of transfer athletes had provided legitimate addresses.
• Goncharoff “directed and encouraged” players to attend a private academic institute to achieve academic eligibility. A Seattle Times report described the institute as a diploma mill where athletes’ grades were inflated.
• Football boosters provided financial assistance to players so they could attend the academic institute.
• Bellevue administrators were aware of violations for years but refused to take action.
The report was written by two former federal prosecutors hired by the WIAA to look into the Bellevue football program. The investigation was prompted by a Seattle Times report in August raising questions about the academic institute used by 21 Bellevue football players between 2011 and 2015.
The reports’ findings were based on transcripts, emails, interviews and district documents.
According to the Seattle Times, Goncharoff told Bellevue football supporters on Thursday “I don’t care what this investigative report says. I can tell you it certainly wasn’t fair.”
Bellevue district superintendent Tim Mills said at a news conference Tuesday the report “contains information that requires immediate action.”
The bulk of the report focuses on the Academic Institute, a program in a Bellevue office park.
Goncharoff told investigators that he never encouraged athletes to attend, but the report cast doubt on the coach’s claims.
The report cites multiple athletes who said they were directed to the institute by “Coach Butch.”
A parent of an athlete said he told Goncharoff he could not afford the institute’s $1,750 monthly tuition. The parent said Goncharoff helped him find a “sponsor” to help pay for his son.
Former players told investigators that the Academic Institute was “a daycare for players” where teachers provided answers to tests.
The report describes a case where Goncharoff wanted a player to take four summer classes at the institute to replace four F’s he had received at Bellevue High the previous spring. At the institute the player received three B’s and one A, consistent with other dramatic grade improvements by Bellevue players at the institute, according to the investigation.
Investigators said for four months the school district refused to provide addresses for 42 athletes who transferred to Bellevue to play football between 2008 and 2015.
Once the addresses were obtained, several problems were noted. One player gave his address as a Mail Plus store in a Bellevue mall. Another used a falsified lease agreement to establish residency. Others provided addresses at which they never lived.
The report said concerns about ineligible players were brought to superintendent Mills’ attention by a high-ranking district employee, the head of another school district and the WIAA.
Yet, the report stated that Bellevue administrators exhibited a “willful blindness” to any allegations of improper conduct by the football program.
The WIAA has not said what penalties are being considered, but it could range from probation to forfeiting state championships.
