Thousand Oaks Hit With Tampering Charge by Moorpark

Thousand Oaks High is conducting an investigation into charges that assistant football coach Bob Shoup, who coached at Cal Lutheran for 28 years, made improper contact with a member of the Moorpark High team.

George Paul, whose son Bryan was a backup quarterback last fall at Moorpark, said he contacted Shoup and had lunch with the coach last week. Bryan also attended the meeting.

Shoup, 61, was a first-year walk-on coach at Thousand Oaks last fall.

Contact between a coach and a player or parent from another school is considered undue influence and is forbidden under state rules.

Thousand Oaks Athletic Director Anna Merriman said she hoped to complete the investigation within a week and would forward the results to the Southern Section.

Paul, a sophomore, played last fall behind Tyler Dritz, a junior who transferred from Westlake. George Paul said he was unaware of the rules governing undue influence.

“It was ignorance on my part,” the elder Paul said. “I was investigating how to go about (transferring). I hope I haven’t jeopardized Bob or my son.”

Southern Section administrator Bill Clark, who supervises football, would not speculate on possible sanctions against the program or Paul if the charges prove true. Merriman said she is awaiting a written response from the Paul family before forwarding her findings to Clark.

In his tenure at Cal Lutheran, which ended after the 1989 season, Shoup led the Kingsmen to national prominence. Cal Lutheran won the NAIA national championship in 1971 and made the final in 1975 and 1977. He compiled a record of 185-87-6 and had 21 winning seasons in his 28 years at Cal Lutheran.

Shoup said he was asked by Thousand Oaks administrators not to comment on the matter.

Moorpark Coach Rob Dearborn, president of the Ventura County Coaches Assn., was incensed when he learned of the apparent violation.

“It took us a long time to get where we are,” Dearborn said Wednesday night. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit by while someone takes our players.”

Moorpark Athletic Director Rich Uphoff and Dearborn said they will evaluate the corrective action taken by Thousand Oaks before deciding if they will pursue the matter further with section officials.

Moorpark finished 9-2-1 last fall and won a playoff game for the first time in school history. Thousand Oaks was 2-7-1 and failed to qualify for postseason play.

Uphoff said that Paul talked openly of his desire to play elsewhere and made no secret of the fact that he was seeking to transfer.

“The boy told us all along what was going on,” Uphoff said. “The paper trail is unbelievable.”

Thousand Oaks might not be the only school targeted by the Pauls. A Marmonte League football coach who asked not to be identified said he was approached at a basketball game last month by an adult who asked if the coach was interested in picking up a transfer quarterback from Moorpark.

According to the coach, the adult did not identify himself, but said the quarterback’s name was Bryan Paul.