Watts Indicted in Fatal Truck Crash
A former Kentucky football player was indicted on manslaughter charges in Somerset, Ky., in the truck crash last month that killed two men.
A Pulaski County grand jury indicted Jason Watts on two counts of second-degree manslaughter and one count of wanton endangerment in the Nov. 15 crash that killed Kentucky football transfer Arthur Steinmetz and Eastern Kentucky student Scott Brock.
If convicted, Watts faces five to 10 years in prison for each manslaughter count and one to five years’ imprisonment on the wanton endangerment count.
Steinmetz and Brock were passengers in Watts’ truck when the vehicle overturned on a rural highway near Somerset, police said.
Watts, 21, who was driving, was legally drunk, as were Steinmetz and Brock, police said. Brock was the best friend of Tim Couch, Kentucky’s star quarterback.
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Utah Coach Ron McBride has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Hawaii coaching job, the Salt Lake Tribune reported, leaving San Diego Charger interim Coach June Jones as the leading candidate.
USC defensive coordinator Bill Young was interviewed for the job Tuesday but said Wednesday he had not heard back from Hawaii officials.
McBride, 59, said it was taking too long for Hawaii Athletic Director Hugh Yoshida and his screening committee to choose a replacement for Fred vonAppen, who was fired last week after compiling a 5-31 record over three seasons.
At 0-12 this season, the Rainbows tied an NCAA record for the worst single-season mark in Division I-A and now have an 18-game losing streak, longest in the nation.
Jones, who also is being courted by the Chargers to take over on a permanent basis, met with Hawaii officials Tuesday night in San Diego.
“They’ve got to get back to me,” Jones said Wednesday. “They really didn’t offer me the job and they didn’t give me a deadline to let them know anything.
“I’m going to make a decision soon, though, just for the sake of this team [Chargers] and for the university.”
Jones said while he loves San Diego and the situation with the Chargers, he long has dreamed of returning to Hawaii, where he played quarterback in 1974 and served as an assistant coach in 1983.