Roosevelt Playbook: Recruit Players, Register ‘em as Homeless, “Kennel” ‘em, Deflect Blame

WIAA drops penalties against coaches on appeal...Also: download your own copy of the fact finder report and the minutes from the appeal in question.

“Roosevelt’s missteps are significant. The violations impacted a substantial number of football players and the following factors must be considered when determining a penalty: The lack of cooperation of Roosevelt staff, the violation of WIAA rules, the issues of fraud in the McKinney Vento federal homeless student program, the violation of the district’s own policies and procedures, disregard for the Seattle Student’s Athletic Handbook and for the lack of acknowledgement of the violations.” - WIAA Fact Finder Report

RENTON — The fines and penalties levied against former Roosevelt football coaches Sam Adams, Saul Patu and Dom Skene for recruiting violations were rescinded by vote of the WIAA Board late last month after the coaches and school athletic director at the center of the investigation appealed at a September 29 meeting.

The three coaches faced $2,500 fines and one year suspensions tied to multiple serious recruiting violations and WIAA/Seattle Public Schools policy violations documented in a 2025 report investigating the recruitment of at least 18 football players prior to the 2024 season.

While choosing not to contest the report’s findings or the penalties assessed against students and the school, the coaches all wanted their personal sanctions dropped: Adams said he’d been slandered and that he’d not done anything wrong. Patu said he’d never been given evidence that recruiting occurred; and that he’d referred any recruiting decisions to Adams.

The board also voted to drop the fines and penalties against Roosevelt Athletic Director Danny Thompson, who retained legal counsel and appealed his $2,500 fine and suspension on the grounds that he’d just been hired and the school district failed to properly train him.

Roosevelt’s violations represent a total system failure, therefore the remedy should proportionally represent the failure of the coaches and administrators to comply with the rules and the self-reporting system. Similar situations across the country resulted in coaches/administrators and the designated school receiving a designated time of suspension from participation in athletic activities by the member institution. - WIAA Fact Finder Report.

Given the credibility of the report compiled by a respected Vancouver area attorney, the mountains of direct evidence culled from investigations with witnesses, students and parents and the multi-month duration of the recruiting violations – the excuses given beggar belief.

The WIAA board has not detailed their reasoning in letting off the adults responsible for the scandal without either overturning the findings or prompting those responsible into accepting responsibility, much less fully complying with the probe itself.

How We Got Here: Fact Finder Report Reveals Complete Systemic Failure (June 2025)

An independent fact finder recommended the exceptional fines and suspensions for the aforementioned coaches and AD after an independent report found that “the Roosevelt coaches made offers and inducements to football players and their families to attend Roosevelt in violation of WIAA rules and the policies of Seattle Public Schools.”

According to the 47-page report published after five-plus months of investigation: “multiple individuals interviewed for the fact-finding named Saul Patu and Sam Adams as the coaches offering the transfer inducements.”

Further, the report concludes that the transfer athletes used false addresses to establish residency and fraudulently completed federal homeless program documents in a manner suggesting that students were “coached” on how to register as McKinney Vento students.

From the investigatory report: