Dave Bliss, still a dirtbag

You remember Dave Bliss, right?

How could you forget him?

He's the former Baylor head coach that tried to cover up his illicit payments to recruits and players by attempting to frame Patrick Dennehy -- a player murdered by his teammate Carlton Dotson -- as a drug dealer.

Scumbag-tastic, amirite? (I shouldn't be joking or snarky. What Bliss did is sickening to the umpteenth degree.)


Well, Bliss is back at it. Last summer, he was hired by Allen Academy, a small private school in Texas, to be their basketball coach and athletic director. It was championed as Bliss' chance at redemption, but that notion took less than a year to dissolve.

Last November, the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools ruled that two of the numerous players that Bliss recruited to Allen Academy received "improper inducement". In other words, they didn't have to pay the full $10,000 tuition to go to school there. Bliss also forged the signature of the school's headmaster for a player that did not end up enrolling at the school.

The punishment? A year suspension for Bliss and two years probation for the school. Instead of succumbing to those sanctions, Allen Academy opted to switch affiliations to the lesser Texas Christian Athletic League. They also downplayed the wrongdoing. From the AP:

Bliss has been admonished by the school for signing Rouse's name without authorization on the transfer form, but school officials downplay the matter.

"It's not like he forged his name and cashed a check for $100,000," said Jerry Bullin, who chairs the school's board of trustees.

Bliss said he signed the headmaster's name on the form because he was facing a deadline. There was no intent to deceive, he said.

"I have my scarlet letter, and I understand that," he said. "The only thing about it is, from this point forward, I am trying to do the right thing."

Others don't see it that way, however. One man is quoted in the AP story as saying that this scandal wasn't like opening a can of worms, it was a "can of snakes".

Bliss has spent the past eight years trying to rebuild his image. Part of his getting this job was to prove that he has seen the light, that he realized the err of his ways and to receive some kind of redemption.

Instead, he cheated -- again -- and is trying to cover it up and run from it -- again.

Good thing this guy is allowed to work with kids still.

h/t Lost Lettermen