WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) Army has suspended defensive coordinator Jay Bateman for two weeks for mishandling information about the Wake Forest football program.
West Point also fined Bateman $25,000 for his role in the so-called WakeyLeaks scandal and ordered him to attend an ethics training program. The academy said Tuesday it will use the forfeited money for ethics training for the athletics staff.
An investigation by Wake Forest concluded that former Demon Deacons assistant coach-turned-broadcaster Tommy Elrod leaked or attempted to leak game plans to opponents. Army, which plays as an independent, and Louisville and Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference said they were tipped off to game-plan information by Elrod.
An Army investigation concluded last week found that Bateman and former assistant coach Ray McCartney had obtained non-public information and took actions to conceal the information and its source. An investigator found that McCartney, who left West Point in 2015, received proprietary information from Elrod and passed it along to Bateman.
”Our commitment is to foster a culture of excellence and winning in everything we do,” superintendent Lt. Gen. Robert L. Caslen Jr. said in a statement. ”It does not mean that we win at all costs. Rather, it means winning in accordance with our values and who we are as an institution and a nation. When we win, we will do so honorably, remaining true to the values and standards that define us.”
The Army report also said that Elrod, who coached at Wake Forest with McCartney, spoke once with Bateman and emailed him information after watching film of Wake Forest practice days before the Demon Deacons played Army at home in October. The Army investigator found no evidence that information was shared with any other coach, staff or player.
Army head coach Jeff Monken told the investigator there was nothing different about the preparation for either game and that he had no knowledge of the correspondence between Bateman and Elrod. None of the information provided by Elrod was very specific game information that Wake Forest was definitely going to use, according to the report.
According to the Army report, the NCAA considers the matter out of its jurisdiction and not a violation.
The Atlantic Coast Conference fined Louisville and Virginia Tech $25,000 each in December. The ACC said its review and follow-up discussions with the schools indicated that game-plan information for four of Wake Forest’s games was provided to three schools over a three-year period from 2014-16 – Virginia Tech in 2014, Louisville in 2016 and Army in both 2014 and `16.
Wake Forest beat both the Hokies (6-3 in double overtime) and Army (24-21) in 2014. Army beat the Demon Deacons 21-13 in October – two weeks before Wake Forest lost 44-12 at Louisville and began to suspect a security breach.
The announcement of the breach came four days after Elrod was fired when the school determined he shared or attempted to share inside information.
Wake Forest began its review after documents related to its game plan for the Louisville game on Nov. 12 were discovered at the Cardinals’ stadium. Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson revealed four days later that school officials were investigating a possible security breach.
Clawson’s staff was not involved and the school pinned the blame solely on Elrod, a former player in the 1990s and assistant under Jim Grobe. Elrod went into broadcasting when he was not retained during the coaching change to Clawson after the 2013 season.
Former Hokies assistant Shane Beamer was provided with ”some game-plan information” before their game in 2014 with Wake Forest, according to the school, but Beamer’s father, now-retired head coach Frank Beamer, had no knowledge of it.
Shane Beamer was not retained when Justin Fuente took over as Virginia Tech’s head coach, and he is now an assistant at Georgia. Beamer was fined $25,000 by Georgia in December for his role in accepting leaked game-plan information while at Virginia Tech. Beamer said he did not share the plays with anyone and called it ”a serious mistake in judgment by accepting the information and failing to notify” Virginia Tech officials.
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