What's Next for Roosevelt: In 2015, Appointing a "Fact Finder" Meant Retaining a Team of Federal Prosecutors
WIAA appointed prosecutors investigating recruiting at Bellevue interviewed over 100 people, compiled over a thousand pages of docs & a familiar trainer was mentioned 25 times in their final report
“N—, I found you. I personally hand-picked you guys and sold you to the agent. And the agent paid me for you guys. This is modern-day slavery, man. This is a (expletive) business. I sold you like a slave owner. Like a slave owner.”
- Tracy Ford, to a group of high school recruits, as reported by the Seattle Times.
BELLEVUE — In the summer of 2015, the WIAA approved a request to appoint independent fact-finders to look into allegations of recruiting violations at Bellevue High School. On Monday in Renton the WIAA board approved an independent fact finder to look into “alleged recruiting violations at Roosevelt High School”.
For those at Roosevelt wondering what to expect next, back in 2015 at least, “fact-finder” …meant a team of federal prosecutors.
In response to the request for a fact-finder to investigate recruiting allegations at Bellevue High School, WIAA Executive Director Mike Colbrese retained two former federal prosecutors and tasked them with investigating allegations of recruiting violations — and anything else fishy they could uncover — at the Bellevue High School football program.
Colbrese told the prosecutors to look “under rocks, under rocks, under rocks” in order to dig up every possible violation that occurred at Bellevue.
What ensued next caused a ton of headaches for a school district that ultimately provided legal counsel to every single employee interviewed by the prosecutors while – according to the report – influencing the players and families to not cooperate with the investigation.
Over the next seven months, the two prosecutors and their investigators interviewed over 100 people and compiled over a thousand pages of investigatory documents. You can read the report in full, attached below.
And despite the fact that their investigation was stonewalled by a Bellevue administrator as well as a certain assistant coach/prominent external athletic trainer, the two prosecutors ultimately sustained ten major categories of violations including over 40 instances of transfer violations
as well as proof of improper payments to players and coaches.
Without the help of the district, the prosecutors identified 42 different players who’d transferred into the district over a multi-year period. They sniffed out the previous addresses of the players. They visited the locations where the players were said to currently live. In some cases this was a PO Box at a FedEx type store. At others it was a phantom address. And in other cases they found a player living by himself, or players waking up at 4 am to take multiple busses into Bellevue (because they didn’t live within district boundaries).
In the end, this resulted in a four year postseason ban for Bellevue football and a two year probation for the high school’s entire athletic department, among other things.
Famed coach Butch Goncharoff – who was represented by not one but TWO lawyers during the WIAA probe – eventually departed.
The assistant coach who prosecutors say stonewalled the investigation – Tracy Ford – was (according to the report) fired for harassing a Bellevue football player.12
The prosecutors surmised that improper recruiting3 was occurring at Ford’s external training facility, Ford Sports Performance, describing what they term “constant rumors that Tracy Ford played an integral role in recruiting players to BHS.”
Tracy Ford is mentioned in the 68 page report no less than 25 times. He refused to cooperate with investigators and – according to the report – Ford was fired as an assistant coach and ultimately banned from renting Bellevue School District facilities for a period of two years.
His business, however, continued to gain steam.
Ford was featured in a 2015 Seattle Times profile, as the Bellevue matter mushroomed into a crisis. Perhaps Ford thought this was going to be a glittering personality profile. Instead, the Times published incendiary quotes attributed to Ford, emanating from behind-the-scenes videos obtained by Times reporters. In one such video, Ford berates a group of highly-recruited athletes inside his facility.
“Did you guys think the agent found you? Because he didn’t,” Ford says in the video. “I said, ‘(N—-), I found you. I personally hand-picked you guys and sold you to the agent. And the agent paid me for you guys. This is modern-day slavery, man. This is a (expletive) business. I sold you like a slave owner. Like a slave owner.’”
As recently as this Spring, Butch Goncharoff was coaching at FSP.
And on Monday, the WIAA board approved a fact-finder to look into “alleged recruiting violations” at Roosevelt High School. This all occurs after at least 11 FSP-linked athletes transferred into Roosevelt prior to the 2024 season.
In summary, some of the same conditions exist today as did in 2015 at Bellevue.
In the Bellevue matter, the adults largely skated. The players who broke recruiting rules also pretty much got off without a scratch – the prosecutors felt that the players were largely used by the figures running the program. However, the prosecutors traced the post high school careers of many involved and came to the conclusion that they were not helped by the program. Ultimately, it was uninvolved students who followed the period of violations that paid, as Bellevue was barred from the postseason and non-league competition for four years.
Is it ironic (or perhaps the better term is obvious?) that Goncharoff works with Ford…and that FSP-linked players are at the center of today’s investigation? Or is it instead — as Ford, who denies any wrongdoing, might say — just proof that dedicated servant leaders will persevere in their selfless efforts to help kids even in the face of bias and persecution?
If the past is prologue in this case, the adults will once again refuse to cooperate with the investigation and leave the kids that follow to pay the price for the entire episode.
In 2015, Ford told the Seattle Times that he was disappointed to be “targeted” in the Bellevue matter. He said he loved being around the young athletes and just wanted to help them.
“It makes me sad. I’ve done so much for this community,” Ford said. “I’ve done nothing but be a positive role model.”
The full Bellevue report is available below. J425 previously reported the WIAA’s approval of an independent fact-finder in the Roosevelt matter here.
“In January 2015 the District hired Tacoma attorney Shawn Flood to investigate an allegation that Tracy Ford, a BHS assistant football coach, had subjected players to harassment, intimidation and abuse during a team meeting. While investigating this matter, Ms. Flood also uncovered evidence relating to payments to coaches and free tuition at the Academic Institute for at least one player.” ( Investigative Report - Re: Bellevue High School Football Program, p. 21)
“Coach Goncharoff … “stuck his head” into Mr. Powers’ office and said that he had ‘canned’ or terminated Tracy Ford.” (p.16 Investigative Report - Re: Bellevue High School Football Program)
Investigative Report - Re: Bellevue High School Football Program, p.65
Previously:
Breaking: Roosevelt Football Under Investigation for Alleged Recruiting Violations
RENTON, WA – The Roosevelt football program is under investigation at the state, district and league level for possible recruiting violations after at least 12 highly-recruited student athletes transferred into the football program since the end of last season.