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Knoxville Catholic coach Philip Shadowens said the recruiting violation ― involving a non-faculty assistant coach attempting to convince a player to transfer to Catholic ― was "just one mistake."
That mistake sparked a TSSAA investigation that eventually led to the program self-imposing a two-year probationary period and a postseason ban from the 2026 TSSAA football playoffs.
"We found out in the end of January what had happened and we suspended the coach," Shadowens told Knox News on July 10 at the KFOA high school football media day hosted at the Three Ridges Golf Course.
"We addressed it, then got involved with the TSSAA about that in April. We finally came to the determination as a school that, first and foremost, we hold ourselves to a different standard than everybody else in East Tennessee. Even though it was just a non-faculty coach texting one kid, doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, we felt like as a school, the decision for us was to impose our own penalty.
"This is not a demise of Knoxville Catholic. This is just a little dip in the road, and it'll create a bigger uprising for Knoxville Catholic. We're not going anywhere; this will just make us stronger."
The TSSAA proposed a new set of recruiting rules at its Board of Control meeting on March 4. It discussed a revamped tiering of violations, ranging from Levels 1-4, with Level 4 bringing the harshest consequences.
While the rules don't go into effect until the 2026-27 school year, Shadowens was adamant that his staff understands the restrictions.
"We're very careful with how we follow the rules, because we know everybody is looking at us," he said. "We're probably more careful than anybody. I have more meetings about making sure we're doing things the right way, probably more than any staff in the state of Tennessee. But that doesn't mean we can't make a mistake as humans."
Despite the violation, Shadowens has no plan to enforce further training protocols on how to communicate with transferring student-athletes.
"No. We already know. Our guys know," he said. "We've had meeting after meeting about this. Our guys know what we have to do. We have standards. If someone reaches out to you, here's what you tell them, and here's where you direct them. Our guys already know that, so there's nothing else we need to do. Our guys know the rules."
Catholic's penalties expand beyond the probationary period and postseason band. They also include a $2,000 fine, a reduction to five days of offseason practice while under probation, and a suspension for the assistant coach for the first five games of the 2026 season.
"I don't know if I can say I agree with it," Shadowens said about the consequences. "Everybody asked us, does the punishment fit the crime? We know what a lot of other schools do. I'll just say this, we're not responsible for what other people do. We're not responsible for what their standard is. We're only responsible for the Knoxville Catholic standard."
Shadowens said he told the team about the self-imposed ban after workouts on July 9.
"They're mad," he said. "They're mad because they worked so hard, and they want to be able to play in the tournament."
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: [email protected]
Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Catholic football coach Philip Shadowens called TSSAA violation 'one mistake'
Continue reading...
That mistake sparked a TSSAA investigation that eventually led to the program self-imposing a two-year probationary period and a postseason ban from the 2026 TSSAA football playoffs.
"We found out in the end of January what had happened and we suspended the coach," Shadowens told Knox News on July 10 at the KFOA high school football media day hosted at the Three Ridges Golf Course.
"We addressed it, then got involved with the TSSAA about that in April. We finally came to the determination as a school that, first and foremost, we hold ourselves to a different standard than everybody else in East Tennessee. Even though it was just a non-faculty coach texting one kid, doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, we felt like as a school, the decision for us was to impose our own penalty.
"This is not a demise of Knoxville Catholic. This is just a little dip in the road, and it'll create a bigger uprising for Knoxville Catholic. We're not going anywhere; this will just make us stronger."
The TSSAA proposed a new set of recruiting rules at its Board of Control meeting on March 4. It discussed a revamped tiering of violations, ranging from Levels 1-4, with Level 4 bringing the harshest consequences.
While the rules don't go into effect until the 2026-27 school year, Shadowens was adamant that his staff understands the restrictions.
"We're very careful with how we follow the rules, because we know everybody is looking at us," he said. "We're probably more careful than anybody. I have more meetings about making sure we're doing things the right way, probably more than any staff in the state of Tennessee. But that doesn't mean we can't make a mistake as humans."
Despite the violation, Shadowens has no plan to enforce further training protocols on how to communicate with transferring student-athletes.
"No. We already know. Our guys know," he said. "We've had meeting after meeting about this. Our guys know what we have to do. We have standards. If someone reaches out to you, here's what you tell them, and here's where you direct them. Our guys already know that, so there's nothing else we need to do. Our guys know the rules."
Catholic's penalties expand beyond the probationary period and postseason band. They also include a $2,000 fine, a reduction to five days of offseason practice while under probation, and a suspension for the assistant coach for the first five games of the 2026 season.
"I don't know if I can say I agree with it," Shadowens said about the consequences. "Everybody asked us, does the punishment fit the crime? We know what a lot of other schools do. I'll just say this, we're not responsible for what other people do. We're not responsible for what their standard is. We're only responsible for the Knoxville Catholic standard."
Shadowens said he told the team about the self-imposed ban after workouts on July 9.
"They're mad," he said. "They're mad because they worked so hard, and they want to be able to play in the tournament."
Wynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: [email protected]
Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: knoxnews.com/subscribe
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Catholic football coach Philip Shadowens called TSSAA violation 'one mistake'
Continue reading...
