Welch Weighs His Legal Options as Canyon Picks Up the Pieces

Harry Welch spent the first day of his suspension from coaching Tuesday unsure of his next move toward regaining his job as Canyon High football coach. But Welch was unwavering in his attack on Southern Section Commissioner Stan Thomas, who Welch claims has abused his position.

The day before, Canyon accepted a Southern Section recommendation to suspend Welch for conducting an off-season practice in violation of section rules.

The suspension runs through Dec. 31, a 5 1/2-month penalty instead of the one-year suspension originally recommended by Thomas.

Canyon accepted the penalty instead of facing a second investigation of the football program and waived the right to another hearing before a three-member appeals panel consisting of members of the section’s Executive Committee. Under the penalty, Welch is barred from all contact with Canyon’s football team, including the postseason banquet, but may attend games as a spectator.

Assistant coaches Brian Stiman and Enrique Lopez have been asked by Principal Bill White to run the team on an interim basis. Stiman repeated Tuesday that he will not coach in the fall, while Lopez is considering the offer.

Welch has vowed to fight the suspension and is weighing his options with attorney Stephen J. Tully, who may file for a restraining order to reinstate the embattled coach. Welch, who has compiled a 100-19-1 record in nine years and who led Canyon to three Southern Section titles, is convinced that the courts are his only avenue for justice. Welch admits a violation was committed but denies he committed it.

“I’m feeling angry, frustrated, defeated,” Welch said. “If I violated rules, I deserve punishment, but everyone deserves fairness and due process. Our school was coerced into taking this action because of threats of further punishment against the school. Stan Thomas absolutely has abused his power. I think the (Southern Section) can function without coercion and intimidation.”

Thomas denied those charges, saying that he merely is enforcing the section’s rules.

“Harry is an outstanding football coach who got caught up in doing things his way, not our way,” he said. “It’s time to fall in line with the rules as all schools should be.”

Welch assailed Thomas at an appeals hearing last week at the section’s offices. Canyon appealed to a three-member panel to reduce a one-year suspension recommended June 21 by the Executive Committee and offered an alternative proposal that called for a half-season suspension of Welch.

The panel rejected that proposal by a 2-1 vote and called for a “full-blown investigation” of the Canyon football program.

Thomas, who originally investigated Canyon in May and recommended the one-year suspension, warned Canyon that an investigation and subsequent hearing could result in a stiffer penalty against the school, characterizing the outcome as potentially “brutal.”

“He said that in the presence of the same panel that would hear our appeal,” Welch said. “His threats were very clear and ominous. Do I think that’s abuse of power? Absolutely.”

“I said the results could be brutal because they would be,” Thomas said. “I wanted them to be prepared for the next level of hearings. We had people who wanted to testify, people who had kind of had it with Harry’s obvious disregard for the rules. When you have that, the penalty could be more severe. That is a reasonable statement to make.”

White said he reluctantly accepted the recommendation even though he still insists the penalty is too harsh. Before the Southern Section entered the case, White had simply admonished Welch.

White denies he felt coerced by the Southern Section and said the threat of an investigation did not force him to accept the penalty.

“We’re not scared of a further investigation,” he said. “Ultimately I felt Harry was going to go down. That penalty was going to stick no matter what. We didn’t have any chance. We went down and told the panel that the penalty was too harsh, but it fell on deaf ears. It didn’t make sense to go back through the mud and look for more pain inflicted on us.”

Although the decision blunted the possibility of further penalties, it also short-circuited Welch’s bid to clear his name, a fight he isn’t likely to relinquish easily. Canyon supporters have raised $9,000 for his legal fees, and a group of 67 parents urged Welch last week to seek redress on his own.

“It seems a bit more real today that I won’t be coaching this fall,” Welch said. “I can live with that but I want to continue to coach. I want this case examined. But I don’t feel I can get a fair hearing from the Southern Section. I will fight this if it’s in the best interest of the school and the community, and we have a reasonable opportunity to have success.”

Meanwhile, White is looking for a football coach and trying to foster stability in the program.

“I was not happy from the outset by the recommendation from (Thomas),” he said. “It’s entirely too harsh. But I’m not the commissioner. I’m not dealing the cards. I’ve got to sit here and mop up the mess. I’ve got to get the best coaches I can get my hands on. I’ve never felt so handicapped and frustrated with what’s been dealt us.”