Fresh Off A State Title, Former Baylor Coach Dave Bliss Accused Of Breaking Rules

BRYAN, Texas — Dave Bliss’ first season as a high school basketball coach has given him a state championship — and raised new questions about his methods.

Eight years after being caught on tape trying to cover up NCAA rules violations at Baylor by portraying a murdered player as a drug dealer, Bliss again finds himself a subject of controversy, even as he works to revive his career as a coach and administrator at a private school with less than 300 students.

This time, it’s a governing body for private high school sports that says Bliss is a rule-breaker, and the issues, stemming from an attempt to recruit high-profile transfers, have prompted fresh criticism of the 67-year-old coach.

“The thing most people have taken issue with is the fact that Coach Bliss had such baggage, a school gives him a second opportunity and then, instead of laying low for a few years, he went out and tried to bring in these ringers,” said Jason Jump, who operates a website devoted to private high school sports in Texas.

Bliss was hired last May as coach, athletic director and dean of students at Allen Academy, which has 250 students in kindergarten through grade 12.

Yet, less than six months after taking the job, he was in hot water with the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, the state’s largest governing body for private high school sports.

The association ruled last November that two of the players Bliss recruited, both of whom were entering their senior years at Houston-area public high schools, received improper inducements because they were allowed to pay only a fraction of Allen Academy’s $10,000 yearly tuition.

It also determined that Bliss forged the signature of the school’s headmaster on a transfer form for another player who later decided not to enroll.

The findings led TAPPS to place Allen Academy on two years’ probation and suspend Bliss for a year.

The school vigorously disputed that it violated the rules, and, rather than comply with the sanctions, moved to another association, the smaller and lesser-known Texas Christian Athletic League.

“You’ve heard the cliche ‘a can of worms?’ This was a can of snakes,” said Edd Burleson, TAPPS’ longtime director.

The two players whose tuition arrangements were questioned helped the school complete a 20-12 season by winning the TCAL’s Class 2A title.

Allen Academy officials say discounted tuition is available to any student who seeks it.

Bliss said he signed the headmaster’s name on the transfer form because he was facing a deadline. There was no intent to deceive, he said.

“I have my scarlet letter, and I understand that,” he said. “The only thing about it is, from this point forward, I am trying to do the right thing.”