A group of players at the University of Texas Permian Basin wrote an anonymous letter to the school and the NCAA alleging that the women’s soccer coach had made out with students and begged her players to bail her out of jail after she was arrested for a DUI, leading to her suspension.
Following a traffic stop where officers claimed the coach, 28-year-old Carla Tejas, slurred her speech and was wobbly on her feet while undergoing sobriety tests, KMID reported, Tejas was arrested for a DUI on September 11.
Following her detention, members of the soccer team wrote the university, NCAA, and Lone Star conference with a letter that made numerous accusations against Tejas. The youngsters expressed concern that the school would “sweep her up.”
The letter claimed that the first-year head coach had broken several NCAA and school rules. She is also accused of being responsible for several pupils’ emotional suffering and self-harm.
The charges against Tejas, according to Kayler Smith, the sports director of KMID’s ABC Big 2 Sports, include hugging members of the men’s soccer team in public, serving alcohol to minors, and requesting players to help her pay for her DUI bond, which some did.
The players also claimed that Tejas returned to a game from which she had been removed and continued coaching while disguising herself and using a two-way radio.
According to KMID, neither the university nor the NCAA have a DUI policy, thus she was permitted to go on coaching after her arrest.
At a news conference on Monday, the school’s athletic director Todd Doley informed the media that Tejas, who has been placed on paid administrative leave, is the subject of an investigation by the department.
“Our focus has always been and will always be unwavering support for student-athletes. Period. That doesn’t change now or ever. So I want to make that perfectly clear. Our support is clearly squarely on our
One of the students Tejas coached at Belhaven University for two years as a graduate student claimed Tejas made her think about committing herself. Another claimed to have made an attempt at suicide.
“She’s telling me everybody hates me and nobody wants me on the team and this had been after a few months of abuse from Carla. That was the tipping point with a lot of other things that had gone on mainly from Carla and Kimberly Harrell that led to me attempting suicide that day,” former Belhaven soccer player Nolyn Murphy said.
She worked as a coach at Louisiana Christian University before taking the helm at UTPB.
