A soccer coach whose work at a North Carolina college 15 years in the past spurred a state investigation into alleged misleading practices is now going through related allegations of utilizing false guarantees to lure athletes and coaches to a traditionally Black non-public college in Virginia.
Tim Newman has labored since 2021 as the top soccer coach and athletic director at Virginia College of Lynchburg, which is now the defendant together with Newman in a lawsuit by a former coach who alleges breach of contract and fraud, amongst different complaints.
A number of the lawsuit allegations are denied by the college’s lawyer in a court docket submitting. Nevertheless, related complaints of fraudulent or misleading practices have been voiced amongst 25 former gamers, coaches and faculty staffers interviewed by ESPN. They described an athletic program that, they are saying:
Attracted coaches with wage guarantees that the college didn’t honor after a number of had uprooted themselves to Lynchburg.
Did not ship on promised athletic scholarships and paid housing.
Made gamers pay for their very own fundamental trainer-related companies and provides, together with ice for ice baths. Some gamers say they resorted to taping one another’s ankles.
Pressured one participant to swimsuit up regardless of struggling a concussion and dismissed the seriousness of different gamers’ accidents.
Promised housing circumstances that fell far in need of requirements athletes have been led to count on. A number of gamers and coaches cited circumstances of mildew and bugs in rooms, and video from one room confirmed a caved-in ceiling in a rest room.
Newman declined to touch upon the allegations. Nevertheless, in an e mail, Newman touted the enjoying and training alternatives his college makes obtainable, its robust soccer schedule, neighborhood involvement and “9 college students with a 4.0 GPA or higher.”
Newman stated the complaints about him come from gamers and coaches who “do not get their manner.”
“God is doing a little wonderful issues right here,” Newman wrote to ESPN. “The satan doesn’t just like the great issues occurring right here at VUL.” A number of sources, together with some supporters, described Newman as a charismatic man who professes a robust Christian religion.
His emailed remarks resemble his response in 2011, when ESPN experiences outlined allegations by coaches and gamers of misleading recruiting techniques by Newman when he was athletic director, head soccer coach and headmaster of North Carolina Tech Preparatory Christian Academy.
These interviewed about Newman’s time in Lynchburg stated he repeatedly made after which broke guarantees — about college circumstances, compensation and different issues — to gamers and coaches, lots of whom have been struggling to salvage careers and hold fading NCAA desires alive.
“Tim Newman is an efficient salesman,” former assistant soccer coach Richard Bonds advised ESPN. “He can promote you on something. Now will he come via with it? That is a special story.”
Former girls’s basketball coach Darius Jennings stated Newman will “promote a dream or false narrative” to draw struggling athletes from throughout the nation, “and all you are actually doing is taking their cash” with tuition and different prices.
One former participant, Brison Huey, stated of the college: “It was tremendous discouraging. I do not want that place on no person.”
Kathy Franklin, president of the 139-year-old establishment, additionally declined to remark. Tripp Isenhour, an lawyer for the college, stated an in-progress lawsuit by former girls’s basketball coach Marquis Lewis precludes Newman and Franklin from talking. Isenhour additionally declined to remark.
Lewis is searching for $25,000 for alleged breach of contract and fraud, citing a failure by Newman and VUL to honor oral wage guarantees and failing to reimburse his coaching-related bills. His lawsuit asserts that Newman promised preparations to match the $30,000 wage of the job he had on the time, however as soon as Lewis had give up and relocated, Newman offered him with a a lot decrease, take-it-or-leave-it contract for $7,000.
The case was heard in Lynchburg Common District Court docket on Aug. 22, however a choose has but to rule.
In September, Isenhour laid out an 18-point response to Lewis’ lawsuit that does not particularly deny that Newman broke any guarantees. Quite, Isenhour argues that, beneath Virginia legislation, guarantees have to be spelled out in writing to be enforceable.
“Settled Virginia legislation on level is obvious — contracts are enforced as written,” Isenhour wrote in his response. “The events agreed to a proper written head coach contract, with the clear compensation quantity of $7,000 said on the primary web page.”
Neither the allegations specified by court docket by Lewis nor the rebuttal by lawyer Isenhour talked about the same complaints by a number of former Newman staffers in Virginia and North Carolina.
NEWMAN WAS WORKING in 2011 because the soccer coach, athletic director and headmaster at North Carolina Tech when an ESPN investigation revealed that Newman and his spouse held virtually each management title on the prep college and managed the college’s appeals board, which adjudicated complaints in opposition to him.
Former gamers, dad and mom and coaches advised ESPN that Newman lured them to NC Tech with guarantees of Division I scholarships and exaggerated the variety of gamers who went on from NC Tech to NCAA faculties. The NC Tech program focused gamers who struggled to satisfy NCAA tutorial {qualifications} or lacked scholarship provides, bringing in over 100 gamers a season. He additionally charged gamers $250 to check out for the crew, ESPN reported.
North Carolina prosecutors launched an investigation into Newman’s program, however it’s not clear if there have been any findings. The state lawyer common’s workplace stated it didn’t have investigation data courting that far again. Primarily based on information media experiences, Newman’s affiliation with NC Tech seems to have led to 2012.
His biography on the VUL web site omits any point out of NC Tech, however it does emphasize what he calls his “NFL profession” with the New York Jets. Though Newman’s bio says he signed in 1986, the Jets’ official roster didn’t record him that 12 months, and North Carolina newspapers listed him as enjoying for Johnson C. Smith College via the autumn season of 1986. Newspapers did, nevertheless, record Newman as an undrafted free agent in 1987 who performed in just one Jets recreation throughout the gamers’ strike that 12 months.
Earlier than NC Tech, Newman labored at North Carolina’s Louisburg School. He was fired round 2005 — earlier than he had coached a recreation — as a result of he recruited 200-plus gamers, greater than the college may deal with, a former college official advised ESPN in 2011. Newman disputed these allegations on the time, ESPN reported. He stated the administration discovered his recruiting to be “racially unbalanced.”
In Lynchburg, lots of the complaints about Newman echo the previous, not simply in his administration model but in addition within the high quality of colleges he associates with.
In his e mail to ESPN, Newman made a number of references to pupil grade-point averages and commencement numbers. “Now we have grown in leaps and bounds within the classroom,” he wrote.
A number of former athletes complained of poor tutorial rigor at VUL. One participant in contrast a category project to working in a baby’s coloring e book and famous different faculties’ rejection of credit earned at VUL.
A number of gamers and coaches raised issues about housing circumstances, saying that they had been led by Newman to count on higher lodging than what they discovered after they acquired to Lynchburg. An ESPN reporter visited campus this summer season to seek out two housing items that resemble Nineteen Seventies-era motels and two others that look like transformed homes.
A number of gamers and coaches advised ESPN they discovered mildew and bugs in dorm rooms as lately as 2023. Video posted on-line reveals a caved-in ceiling in a single dorm toilet, with insulation hanging down.
Lynchburg metropolis inspection data reviewed by ESPN point out that these points have been remedied after the town acquired complaints. The college allowed an ESPN reporter to take a restricted tour however saved some areas off-limits.
Former assistant coach Michael Morris stated that in 2023 Newman made coaches answerable for cleansing up moldy, insect-infested dorms earlier than the season.
A number of gamers additionally advised ESPN that faculty officers, together with Newman, made oral guarantees to cowl housing prices, however these officers finally reneged after the gamers had agreed to attend the college.
Jacob Walker, a working again who transferred from Mercer to Virginia College of Lynchburg in 2023, advised ESPN that when he arrived on campus there was no place for him to remain. He initially stayed in resorts and rental properties till the college may provide on-campus housing or a stipend for an off-campus place. Walker stated Newman promised to get a verify issued to cowl his bills, however he by no means acquired one.
Michael Harris, the daddy of former receiver Elijah Harris, stated Newman promised orally that his son would not need to pay for on-campus housing. The college wound up billing him anyway and threatened to withhold Elijah’s tutorial transcripts till he paid.
John Scirigione, whose son Jason performed receiver on the college, additionally stated Newman advised him he would not need to pay for housing and that he can be reimbursed. He stated he tried to get Newman to place the promise in writing, however the coach refused.
“He would let you know to your face type of what you wished to listen to,” stated Lauri Scirigione, Jason’s mom. “However he would by no means comply with via, after which he would make himself so troublesome, you possibly can by no means get ahold of him.”
VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY OF Lynchburg sits on roughly 7 acres south of downtown Lynchburg. The nonprofit college, rooted in Baptist theology, was based in 1886. Just about all college students obtain federal loans or grants, in line with Division of Training statistics from 2022-23. Of practically 600 college students in that 12 months, solely 170 have been undergraduates and apparently most of these performed sports activities. The college’s web site for this 12 months lists 103 athletes.
The federal information additionally signifies that simply 26% of the college’s undergraduate college students acquire a level inside six years. Isenhour offered a hyperlink to a faculty web site on pupil achievement, which lists a complete pupil retention charge of 53.9%, that means practically half of scholars withdraw from one 12 months to the subsequent.
There are “a lot of the explanation why retention charges are low — over-recruitment, lack of majors provided, substandard amenities and tools in some circumstances, and simply not sufficient for the scholars to do,” the college’s official web site says, including that “a lot of the recruitment and enrollment proceed to revolve round sports activities.”
Final 12 months, the college’s accreditation company, the Transnational Affiliation of Christian Faculties and Faculties (TRACS), stated it put VUL on probation. Isenhour stated it concerned an accounting challenge that has been resolved. TRACS eliminated VUL from probation in January. The company declined remark. Publicly obtainable paperwork don’t present particulars on what prompted the probationary standing.
The Nationwide Christian School Athletic Affiliation (NCCAA), of which VUL is a member, stated in an announcement to ESPN that it investigated VUL earlier this 12 months and had lately accomplished a “complete evaluate.” The affiliation didn’t clarify what prompted the evaluate. The affiliation says it stopped sanctioning soccer as of this tutorial 12 months however continues to sanction all different athletic competitions for its members.
“Now we have decided and acknowledged with Virginia College of Lynchburg management any potential deficiencies or areas of enchancment,” the NCCAA said. “The following step after any evaluate is for the NCCAA to work with the establishment to mentor, right and enhance areas of concern in order to raised serve their student-athletes and athletic workers.”
The group didn’t present specifics about its evaluate or point out whether or not it concerned Newman.
The college’s tight finances has pushed Newman to generate soccer income by scheduling assure video games in opposition to bigger-name opponents. Since Newman’s arrival, the Dragons’ soccer document is 9-41, together with this season’s 3-5 begin.
The college has no gymnasium and rents the Lynchburg Metropolis Stadium and space faculties for soccer practices and uncommon residence video games. Basketball practices are held at gyms round Lynchburg and the Metropolis Armory health club, run by the native Parks and Recreation Division.
The college’s off-campus health heart and soccer workplaces are in a strip mall between a hair salon and a neighborhood heart about 2 miles from campus.
A number of gamers and coaches advised ESPN there have been no athletic trainers on workers in 2023. The college has since employed one. The dearth of a full-time coach typically pressured the college into non permanent fixes, corresponding to paying their opposing college to supply a coach at away video games, representatives of these faculties advised ESPN.
The college employed Jay Roberts as a short lived coach for its soccer recreation in opposition to Lane School in 2023. Roberts stated he charged $300 for his companies, however VUL by no means paid him.
Elijah Harris, who performed receiver for the Dragons in 2023, stated he often would tape teammates’ ankles earlier than apply. He stated there was one girl on the college who tried taping ankles, however it was clear “she wasn’t an precise athletic coach.”
A number of former soccer gamers described having to maintain their soccer tools of their automobiles or rooms as a result of they did not have a locker room.
“There was no athletic coaching room. There was no athletic coaching workers. There was no athletic coaching tools,” Harris stated. “Like, no [resistance] bands, no restoration, no bodily remedy. There was nothing of the kind when you acquired injured.”
In 2024, the college said on social media that “a former assistant soccer coach has begun making slanderous and unfaithful statements in regards to the College and its soccer crew.” The previous coach and his or her allegations weren’t recognized.
Nevertheless, the assertion stated the college had retained a crew physician accessible to gamers twice every week throughout the soccer season and has “retained athletic trainers for each recreation, residence and away, all in accordance with NCCAA guidelines.”
Concerning income from guaranteed-revenue video games, the assertion stated that “each crew mixed” generated $206,000 in revenue, which is “used for the cost of the soccer crew’s bills.”
WHILE SOME NEWMAN critics credit score him for his charisma and skill to encourage, they query the way in which he has recruited workers and gamers to the college.
Marquis Lewis, the previous coach suing the college, is amongst a number of who allege Newman broke guarantees over pay.
Morris, the previous soccer assistant, stated Newman promised to pay him $8,000 to $10,000 for the 2023 season. He stated he wound up receiving $6,000.
Sam Karn, the Dragons’ offensive coordinator that 12 months, stated Newman promised him $12,000 to $15,000, together with free housing and meals. The wage he was ultimately provided was $6,000, he stated. Coaches in different sports activities reported related accounts of being shorted promised pay. One former soccer assistant interviewed by ESPN, Terrell Pinson, stated he was paid all the $10,000 Newman promised him.
At VUL, as at NC Tech years in the past, coaches interviewed by ESPN stated they have been promised bonuses to signal new gamers however weren’t paid for the gamers they did recruit.
In addition they stated Newman would berate them — typically in entrance of gamers — or disregard them in the event that they complained about being shorted on pay, going unreimbursed or having to carry out jobs corresponding to cleansing dorm rooms or serving meals to gamers within the cafeteria.
Newman’s former gamers additionally complained to ESPN in interviews about his demeanor towards them, saying they have been labeled “smooth” in the event that they sat out due to damage. One participant, a former quarterback who spoke on the situation of anonymity, stated Newman made him costume for a recreation regardless of a concussion. The participant stated the concussion was so extreme he suffered nosebleeds as he suited up and stood on the sideline.
Gamers additionally accuse Newman of exaggerating the publicity they acquired as Dragons; many hope for an opportunity to catch on with a much bigger program. They are saying Newman led them to imagine a scout from close by Liberty College was coming to look at a apply. The supposed scout even wearing Liberty colours.
A Liberty spokesperson advised ESPN that the college didn’t ship a scout, and one participant stated he later confronted the person, who advised the participant that he was not a scout, and that Newman wished to see whether or not the concept of a scout watching may encourage higher efficiency on the sphere.
In 2011, when an ESPN reporter sat in his workplace and confronted Newman about false claims that NC Tech had gained three nationwide championships, he replied, “Whenever you go throughout the nation beating all people from Florida to Ohio to Kentucky … you may declare your self as nationwide champion.”
Throughout that video interview, ESPN pressed Newman repeatedly about far-fetched claims that NC Tech had despatched 325 gamers to varsity since he had taken cost. When offered together with his personal questionable statistics from earlier years, he replied: “Whether or not it is 200, 300 gamers, these are second-chance youngsters that acquired scholarships. … Why are you sitting right here being choosy on that? We’re sending youngsters to high school.”