One of Utah's most successful and honored high school coaches is unsure about whether he'll be coaching the top-ranked girls basketball team in the state for the rest of the season.
"I stayed up most of last night," said Mountain View coach Dave Houle, who has coached girls basketball for 18 years and has won 11 state championships. He's also won dozens of cross country and track state titles, several national championships and is a member of the Utah High School Sports Hall of Fame. "I've cried as much as a guy can cry. I don't know what's going to happen."
Houle was told his job was in jeopardy on Tuesday afternoon. He and Mountain View principal Richard Clarke were called into the Alpine School District offices where he was told he could resign or be fired the next day.
Houle said Thursday he couldn't discuss the specific allegations, and district officials were in meetings Thursday and unavailable for comment. Houle and several parents involved said the school board is investigating, and no decision has been made about the status of his job.
Houle did not go to school Thursday, nor did most of his players. Instead, he spent the day fielding calls from supporters and waiting for word about whether the district would reconsider the decision. His players spent the day trying to save their coach's job and their team's season. About 20 girls and several parents went to the Alpine School District offices around noon to meet with officials and discuss the incident.
"I just think it's so sad," said Mountain View forward Michelle Harrison. "It's definitely unexpected. It's very upsetting and sad what coach Houle is going through. There wasn't any warning, no time to prepare, no time to fight it. Now we're just trying to deal with it."
Houle met with his team at a player's home to discuss the situation and tell them they needed to attend school Friday and continue to practice without him.
Mountain View faces it's its toughest in-state challenges next week with region games against Lone Peak on Tuesday and Timpanogos on Thursday.
Houle said he waited all day for word about his job status, but as of 9 p.m. Thursday, he still hadn't heard anything. Even if he's reinstated, he said he won't go to today's practice.
"I'm want to think about things," he said. "And I haven't slept."
His players were distraught about the district's decision to fire Houle and say there is no reason for the action.
"We know what's going on, and it's just not true," Harrison said. Added Monique Smith, a senior, "I think it's really, really messed up, and completely false. I'm totally with coach Houle, and if it means I turn in my jersey then I'm willing to do that to support him. I'll sit out my senior year for him. I think he's an honorable man, and I don't think he'd do what he's accused of doing."
Smith and Harrison were among the group of students who went to the district offices to discuss the decision and said they were given a copy of the rules he allegedly violated. The specific allegations, however, aren't listed among the problematic behavior in the rules the students were given, they said.
Houle denies any wrongdoing and said the violations, which supposedly occurred while the team was in Phoenix playing in the Nike Tournament of Champions, also blind-sided him. He said the only reason he considered resigning was to save his players the pain of a public investigation. His players and their parents, however, talked him into rescinding his resignation, and Houle now said he will fight being terminated.
"I think this is ridiculous," Houle said. "I think (certain district officials) just want to get rid of me. . . . It's horrifying that this can happen. I've never, never, never been accused of anything like this. Never."
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com