Belleville Coach Crowell Suspended by MHSAA
Title basically says it all. He is suspended until 2024. The suspension is for violating the "undue influence" rule for driving a player to practice. I know there has been significant tension between Harbaugh and Crowell over the years, and maybe this is a situation where there's a lot more smoke and this is just what they could prove, but taking away a person's livelihood for giving a kid a ride to practice seems...excessive...
November 18th, 2022 at 12:54 PM ^
Calling it his livelihood seems to be overstating it a tad.
November 18th, 2022 at 12:58 PM ^
Indeed. Though I don't follow high school sports, I think I agree with OP that the penalty appears excessive.
November 18th, 2022 at 4:43 PM ^
What job do you have where you can cross the written and agreed upon standards of your profession and then consider the consequences of breaking the standards of that profession as excessive?
The guy is not going to jail. Nobody is saying that he can't teach, or even be a college coach, or a ditch digger. He just cannot coach in the state of Michigan or any state that will play along.. Grow up..
November 18th, 2022 at 5:05 PM ^
I'm a hitman. Sure, I prefer to keep it quiet and clean, but sometimes you need to go the extra mile to get it done. Nobody has ever given me grief, as long as the job gets done.
November 18th, 2022 at 7:09 PM ^
Many youth are having massive mental health issues and in some communities, fatherless homes is an epidemic. To suspend a coach who's going the extra mile to get a young person to practice is beyond ridiculous.
November 19th, 2022 at 8:13 AM ^
This is an extremely privileged response. If you know someone that has taught or coached in a school district where several families are economically disadvantaged, have a conversation with them about the "standards of their profession."
Edit. For the record, I am not privy to the specifics of this particular situation. I'm just not impressed with the ignorant generalization made in the post I responded to.
November 21st, 2022 at 7:24 PM ^
I coach in a rural district where the median and mean income is well below the state mean and median. I have coached in an urban district where the same hold true.
I definitely do not need lessons from you.
I do what I can at every step to help each player become a better person, son, and hopefully husband, father and member of a community that I can.
Breaking established rules, if I believe in them or not, so that my record has a few more wins is not my way to model the behavior that I hope that each player chooses.
To each their own though. I am in the front line. Are you?
Maybe you should also become "a bit more privy" to how Belleville football works before you comment .
November 18th, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^
The article you linked says nothing of the kind. It's from two weeks ago, when he was suspended pending an investigation. However, if all allegations are true, it's a LOT more than giving one kid one ride. It's outright recruiting, undue influence, etc. Again, IF all allegations are true.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:01 PM ^
Crap. The original article was paywalled, so I went to find a free version and picked a bad one. He is indeed done until 2024...
November 18th, 2022 at 1:48 PM ^
Agree, pretty sure it is more than driving a kid to camp. There was a talented local kid here in Muskegon who all of a sudden up rooted and moved/played at Belleville. Where there is smoke there is fire.
Now is this right or wrong, who knows. Seems weird how kids can transfer to all sorts of schools (JJ to IMG for example). When with is comes to MHSAA, it's a big no no.
Understand it would be a total shit show if kids were allowed to transfer like that. But just appears to be happening anyways on a much smaller scale.
November 18th, 2022 at 12:57 PM ^
He knew the rules and decided to break them anyways. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:46 PM ^
Yeah, from all accounts dude was a blatant cheater. Good for the MHSAA for cracking down on him
November 18th, 2022 at 7:17 PM ^
To the letter, he is wrong. He, however, is just not as good as the parochial schools at doing the very same thing. Also, probably does not have the invisible tentacle reach that stems from the boosters like the parochial schools do. This is not an isolated incident that happened only at Belleville.
November 18th, 2022 at 9:16 PM ^
Every situation is different and I have 0 knowledge of this situation. But I'm a HS coach who has a kid a ride to practice or home after a practice or game. When a texts and says he doesn't have a ride to practice and asks me, it's hard to say "no" then hold him accountable for missing practice when I could easily drive by his house and pick him up. Or when a 14year old f
November 18th, 2022 at 9:49 PM ^
Yeah but I assume your players don't live 45 minutes away. I'm pretty sure the guys he's driving are way, way outside Bellville's district boundaries...
November 18th, 2022 at 10:00 PM ^
Every situation is different and I have 0 knowledge of this situation. But I'm a HS coach who has a kid a ride to practice or home after a practice or game. When a texts and says he doesn't have a ride to practice and asks me, it's hard to say "no" then hold him accountable for missing practice when I could easily drive by his house and pick him up. Or when a 14year old freshmen stays for the varsity game but his ride leaves or nevers shows up, do I let walk home at 10pm (our city also has curfew laws)? It's tough. I try not to give rides often but I also have to operate in the real world where shit happens.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:07 PM ^
I want to go to that game tonight but the weather is telling me to skip it. And the Clarkston v. Caledonia game is tomorrow right down the street from a home MSU game at the same time. Blah.
November 18th, 2022 at 7:58 PM ^
Cal-Clarkston is at DeWitt, not EL. Won’t be impacted by MSU game.
November 18th, 2022 at 8:19 PM ^
November 18th, 2022 at 1:14 PM ^
I don't follow Michigan HS sports really at all beyond how it affects recruiting and I always thought the general consensus was guys like Crowell (and Bellamy and other top-level HS coaches) sort of did all of these things and it was just a question about when, not if, they got caught. It's clearly more going on than driving one 8th grader to practices over a summer.
Just based on the rumors I've read here and on a couple of other message boards randomly it sounds like there was a lot going on at Belleville that was sorta winked-and-ignored but at some point you'll get caught and that seems to be what happened here.
I'm sure he'll survive.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:16 PM ^
What a bullshit rule. I'm no fan of Crowell but MHSAA can bite me. They are the worst of all the state governing associations I know of, and the reason basketball players in the state all leave it. They're so stuck in the 1970s they don't acknowledge how much they damage the careers of the players. It's infuriating.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:20 PM ^
Blatant favoritism, corruption, and decisions made frequently at the expense of the students. I wouldn't be shocked if there wasn't a racist component to this ruling either. MHSAA is the worst.
November 19th, 2022 at 8:26 AM ^
You make some bold accusations which in turn make some people here uncomfortable, hence you getting negged. I agree that there are a lot of laws governing school districts that could be viewed as institutional racism but that's probably too deep of a topic for this board
November 18th, 2022 at 1:21 PM ^
Can you fix the link in my OP? I picked one from the temporary suspension, not the updated "official" suspension today. I'd edit it myself, but, um... :-)
November 18th, 2022 at 1:54 PM ^
For someone not super familiar with the MHSAA, I'd love to hear more on why it's so bad, and what's wrong with the rule (I thought most states had rules against high school recruiting)...
November 18th, 2022 at 2:37 PM ^
I'm curious why you think this is such a bad rule. The MHSAA relaxed the transfer rules, and gave district the option to be school of choice. I've read where he has allowed kids to live with him to attend Bellville. He also, allegedly, took kids from out of his district to compete with his kids from Bellville in 7 on 7 tournaments in other states, also against the rules. Transporting prospective athletes to high schools for entrance exams and athletic events is prohibited, another rule he allegedly broke. This guy operated like he was above the law, and got busted. He can still teach, he just can't coach. An assistant coach under him got suspended for 4 yrs for breaking the transportation rule, and Crowell continued to do it after this. Don't just skirt the rules, do something to get them changed.
November 18th, 2022 at 4:01 PM ^
Maybe, but it's easier to prove and this is kinda like busting Capone for Income Tax evasion.
The dude is maybe the biggest recruiting cheat in the history of the state (and that's saying something) so I'm in the, "the ends justify the means," camp on this one.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:23 PM ^
Wait...were some of you under the impression that the sudden appearance of a bunch of 5-star and 4-star players at Belleville a few years ago was a coincidence?
November 18th, 2022 at 1:27 PM ^
Ha. Yeah, I follow Michigan high school football and Belleville is... different.
Magnus, what do you think of Desman Stevens from Clarkston? Went to that game last week and my man had 5 tackles, 2 PBUs, ran a kickoff back for a TD, threw a TD pass, and caught a TD pass and the 2 point conversion that won that game.
It looks like he is only getting MAC-tion love at this point, but dang. Would not mind M giving a quick look. I think he is just a junior.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:42 PM ^
Looks like he's a top-400 player; just a matter of time before his recruitment takes off.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:49 PM ^
He is just a junior. I think he's a kid without a real position at Michigan. Probably too slow to be a WR/CB, not physical enough to me to be a LB. Not big enough for TE. He's definitely a good player, though. I could see him being a possession WR at a MAC school or maybe a nickel some places, but Michigan currently likes their nickels to be corner/safety types like Dax Hill and Mike Sainristil. Stevens isn't in that mold.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:52 PM ^
Appreciate the input. Hope the kid finds a good home in college because he was impressive.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:34 PM ^
Could he have a future as a Michael Barrett-ish linebacker?
November 18th, 2022 at 1:51 PM ^
Who could resist a ride in that sweet Chevy Trailblazer
November 18th, 2022 at 2:16 PM ^
There's a reason why the Detroit CHSL is getting sued by Orchard Lake St. Mary's. The rule barring immediate eligibility for kids coming from Detroit/Lansing CHSL schools is hurting their recruiting game.
November 19th, 2022 at 7:11 AM ^
No. You're just saying the quiet part out loud. It was/is entirely obvious.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:42 PM ^
It's more than driving a kid to practice. The kid was not Belleville student. He was a prospective student. Presumably MSHAA would have no problem if he drove a Belleville kid to practice. This is more of a recruiting issue.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:44 PM ^
I said this in another thread a few weeks back, but as someone who watched Belleville play my kids’ high school this season, this team is really good and being coached by a bunch of classless jerks. Six personal fouls for taunting is all I needed to see to get an idea of what “leadership” there is in that locker room.
I feel awful for the kids, but this dude can pump sour cream on $.99 enchiritos in Coral Gables as a new career for all I care.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:51 PM ^
Coral Gables is very . . . specific.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:54 PM ^
That whole line is a very obscure MST3K reference- for those who like the fine arts.
November 18th, 2022 at 1:59 PM ^
High school rules aren’t meant to be broken. It’s not about giving a kid a ride to practice, it’s about circumventing the rules to get an athlete to your school.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:09 PM ^
The school I graduated from in Kentucky was accused of recruiting because anytime one of us wrestlers moved in state from out of state, we all chose to wrestle at that program. It wasn't because we were recruited, but we wanted to be a part of the best program available and the town it was in was a good town, so parents were happy too. I came from a nationally ranked program in South Carolina. The year after, we had a kid from San Diego transfer in from a nationally ranked program. Instances like that plus former wrestlers always came back and helped out with the team any chance they could. Not saying this is the case with Crowell, but a lot of times, great competitors want to be surrounded by other great competitors.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:21 PM ^
Yeah, that’s not the case here. Belleville’s not too good of a school academically and athletically it was nothing 10 years ago. Crowell came in and presto! Lots of blue-chip talent suddenly was enrolled there.
November 18th, 2022 at 5:20 PM ^
To support your point about the amazing climb to elite level football:
Source: https://michigan-football.com/f/bellevil.htm (Careful, that site has A LOT of gravity....)
November 18th, 2022 at 2:27 PM ^
The hope is the MHSAA investigates other HS football teams and their coaches not only in football, but also in other HS sports where we know recruiting occurs.
BTW, the current MHSAA statute of not letting students transferring from Detroit and Lansing schools to be immediately eligible to participate in sports at their new school is very suspect. I am sure we will hear more about this issue in the near future.
November 18th, 2022 at 2:37 PM ^
My issue is not that Crowell and Belleville are getting punished, but it's that the MHSAA doesn't enforce this consistently. Grand Rapids West Catholic was recruiting kids from different schools in GR this spring. A couple of kids posted announcements just like they were making their college commitment. Had fancy graphics with them in west catholic uniforms and everything. MHSAA is aware, but nothing came of it, except the tweets disappeared and only one of the kids ended up playing there.
It's an open secret that some of the private schools in this area recruit. Some of the public schools do too. Punish them all. I feel bad for the schools who work hard to do things the right way and build programs with the kids in their communities. It's not a level playing field at the moment
November 18th, 2022 at 2:51 PM ^
Wrestling isn't an issue!!
November 18th, 2022 at 4:11 PM ^
Ha!
Lowell is like a fully operational death star, and a lot of those kids "found" their way there
November 18th, 2022 at 3:06 PM ^
JMO, the crime they got him for is about the crimes they couldn't get him for. So, undue influence for giving a player a ride to practice we all know is BS. Betting they couldn't get him for recruiting out of district or region but they had him on this. It's always something and usually he got a kid from a program that has power within the State's HS Athletic Association.
I'm in N. Kentucky (NKY), Highlands (Ft Thomas), Cov Catholic and Beechwood were known for recruiting and their coaches would be attending 7th, 8th and even 9th/Fr games of athletes from other schools/districts. Till one was caught being the legal guardian of over 30 players so they could go to school in that district. So coaches always playing games to get the top players!
November 18th, 2022 at 3:24 PM ^
The apartments across the street from Farmington Hills Harrison used to be affectionately known as "Herrington Hotel". Lots of his top players moved into that apartment complex and helped Harrison become the perennial power that won 13 state championships, all under Herrington.
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.