Mead football coach fired over mishandling of player misconduct that led to lawsuits

Mead High School head football coach Keith Stamps was fired for failing to properly investigate and report player misconduct, “fueling a media firestorm, lawsuits, and calling into question the community’s trust” in the Mead School District, according to a letter Tuesday about the termination District Superintendent Travis Hanson sent to Stamps.

Four former Mead High School football players and their parents are suing the school district for failing to protect the players and report the assaults, harassment and racial discrimination the four student-athletes, who are Black, reportedly experienced at the hands of their teammates.

“On November 20th, the Mead School District received a lawsuit containing new allegations connected to previously reported incidents involving the Mead High School football program,” Hanson wrote in a statement about the letter. “We are deeply concerned about the issues raised and want to emphasize that the safety, well-being, and trust of our students, families, and community are our top priorities. The District reopened its previous investigation, which resulted in the difficult decision to terminate the coaching contract of Mead High School’s head football coach, Keith Stamps, and issue a notice of probable cause to terminate his teaching contract.”

Stamps’ termination from coaching and teaching is effective immediately, and he has a right to appeal the district’s decisions. In addition to coaching, he also worked as a health and fitness teacher for the district, but is fired from both positions .

Stamps finished his fourth season guiding the Panthers football program, his alma mater, after 17 seasons coaching at Deer Park High School. He led the team to the State 4A playoffs last month and lost to Lake Stevens in the first round.

Stamps couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.

The lawsuit says two of the players were assaulted by their white teammates with battery-powered massage guns at 2022 and 2023 Mead summer football camps at Eastern Washington University. Players filmed the 2023 assaults, and the videos circulated in the Mead community.

Reports and videos of the assaults were reported the following months to Mead staff, including Stamps.

According to Hanson’s letter to Stamps, Stamps was notified on multiple occasions that some of his players applied a massage gun to the private parts of other players last year at a Mead football camp in Cheney.

Stamps said he spoke with players after he was first alerted about the misconduct and determined no wrongdoing occurred, according to the letter.

Hanson wrote that Stamps failed to tell district officials he received a report of player-on-player misconduct in August 2023. He also lied in a court declaration that nothing related to the misconduct allegations was brought to the coaching staff’s attention between July 2023 and December 2023, two occasions when he was made aware of the allegations.

An email sent to Stamps in August 2023 included allegations of students using a massage gun on another student’s private area as “payback” for the times the student “touched the privates” of other students, Hanson wrote.

The email included allegations of a coach telling players something to the effect that back in his day they “used a stick,” and that players are “soft” nowadays.

Hanson wrote district officials learned about the August email only after it was discovered in response to a public records request, referenced in a lawsuit and reported by media outlets. The district learned last month of the deleted email containing additional information and previously unreported allegations of student and staff misconduct within the football program.

Stamps told the district last month he read that email, called the parent who sent it and did not investigate further, saying the August email was not “verified” and were part of a “rumor mill,” according to Hanson’s letter.

“However, truth is, you did nothing to revisit the football camp incidents in light of this new information,” the letter states.

When asked why Stamps didn’t share the allegations, Stamps reportedly told Hanson, “based on what I knew, none of this was believable to me. This was just boys talking.”

Stamps told Hanson he assured the parent on the phone he spoke with the students involved and the allegations were unfounded, Hanson wrote. Stamps argued that he spoke with a student and some of the coaches after receiving the email, but didn’t properly address some of the more serious allegations.

“You admitted that you failed to address the significant and serious allegations of having a massage gun placed in the same student’s ‘privates’ at football camp by other students or about that student touching the privates of other students,” Hanson wrote.

“Your failure to inform school or district administrators about the allegations contained in the August email has had a detrimental effect on our students, staff, programs, and community,” Hanson continued. “These allegations were left unaddressed for months, resulting in delayed Title IX investigations, delayed corrective measures for the aggressors, and delayed support for the victims, ultimately fueling a media firestorm, lawsuits, and calling into question the community’s trust in this District. In addition to your duty to keep students safe, you have a professional obligation to act on reports of misconduct. You didn’t do that.”

Hanson called Stamps’ conduct “unprofessional,” “egregious” and said he used “substantial poor judgment” and a “flagrant disregard of generally recognized professional standards.”

“Your conduct also lacks any positive educational aspect or legitimate professional purpose; has a material and substantial adverse impact on your ability to deal with students, parents, and other staff members; impairs your performance as a teacher and a coach; and is not a remediable teaching deficiency,” Hanson wrote.