Op/Ed: Either There’s More to the Story re: Peyton Pelluer Suspension, or the Issaquah SD Lost its Damn Mind

Are we waiting for the other shoe to drop? Or preparing to air out a school district for tarring and feathering an iconic young alumni who saacrified to give back to his hometown

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Read the J425 report on the Skyline football staff quitting en masse after head coach Peyton Pelluer was suspended Friday.

The situation out on the Plateau is difficult to understand unless there is significantly more bad news to come.

To be specific, we’re talking about the head coach of 5-2 Skyline getting very-publicly suspended hours before kickoff last Friday, pending the completion of a seemingly nebulous, vague school district inquiry that program insiders say is based on parents complaining about “player participation.”

It’s hard to imagine that a serious school district would publicly take the legs out from its young coach over something so lacking in urgency and gravitas.

There’s gotta be more to it. Right? Right?? The fact that the entire football staff resigned Monday, vowing not to return until Pelluer is reinstated…well that supports the possibility that there really isn’t any credible allegation of anything worthy of this kind of treatment of the young coach.

On one hand, consider an incredibly well-qualified young, local, iconic, qualified and charismatic football coach presiding over a successful program in the midst of a league-winning campaign.

This coach won state titles at Skyline in high school and All Pac 12 awards in college. He is recognized as a legendary fourth generation star over at the state college in Pullman. He prepped for the role not at a middle school or JV squad, but under Mike Leach at Wazzu and Mississippi State, and under Lincoln Riley at USC. Upon taking the Skyline HC role, he swiftly assembled an unprecedented number of similarly talented young, well-qualified program alumnus interested in working for free or cheap. All-in-all? Coach is a rarity and aa valuable resource to any district. Plus, coach has this thing humming.

Then, on the other hand, consider the fact that a large, well-funded, well-established school district like Issaquah decied to take the the seemingly-drastic step of removing their popular young head coach in a manner that would, by definition, draw the maximum amount of attention. Seemingly drastic only because we’re told (by the assistant coaches, who should have some idea what their boss is getting investigated for) that this suspension centers around a few insubordinate parents bitching about “player participation issues”.

Our championships were built on love, commitment, toughness, and sacrifice, and this football program is feeling that once again. Our confidence, strength, and fortitude has been earned, not given, and this team has earned the right to finally play some football.. and it is finally that time. - Peyton Pelluer

From here, it just seems improbable that the district would take such rash steps as a result of parents upset over playing time, which is how most commenters have interpreted the coaches’ description of the suspension as relating to player participation issues. This doesn’t add up. And that is only reason our criticism isn’t yet full-throated.

This is not how districts normally act. Notices are not sent out to parents regarding every unsubstantiated allegation. If there’s a week left in the season, the district will wait to act. If it’s an hour until the coach’s team