Coach in Nevada hoax case takes job in Oregon

Published 10:27 pm Sunday, March 9, 2008

FERNLEY, Nev. — A Nevada high school football coach is leaving to take a similar job in Oregon, five weeks after one of his players faked his recruitment.

Fernley High coach Mark Hodges said his acceptance of the head coaching job at Hermiston (Ore.) High had nothing to do with the embarrassing hoax involving Kevin Hart, an all-state offensive lineman.

With Hodges standing next to him at a Feb. 1 school assembly, the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Hart donned a California cap to indicate his choice of schools as the crowd cheered.

Hart later claimed he had been the victim of an impostor posing as a recruiting promoter before he apologized Feb. 6 and admitted that he had made the story up. None of several colleges Hart boasted about had, in fact, contacted him.

Hodges declined to comment on the hoax and said he had been considering the Oregon position for a while.

“The opportunity to coach at a 5A high school is great,” Hodges told the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard newspaper. “It’s a step up, and they have a great sports program.”

Hodges, whose team went 7-4 last season and qualified for the 3A playoffs, said a defamation lawsuit he filed against school officials Feb. 14 would go forward.

The suit accuses the officials of slandering Hodges by providing unsubstantiated information that a Reno television station used in a Feb. 9 report that Hodges’ coaching contract would not be renewed next year due to “unprofessional conduct and fiscal irresponsibility.”

Hodges’ lawyer, Ken McKenna, has said Hodges was not aware that Hart had made up the story about being recruited until the football player confessed.

Hodges’ tenure in Fernley also was marred by allegations of ineligible players and illegal practices in 2005 that ultimately led to forfeited wins.

“I have no idea what goes on down there,” Hermiston High Principal Buzz Brazeau told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “We went through a very lengthy (hiring) process and are comfortable with our process. And I have no doubt Mark is the right guy for our job.”

Before coming to Fernley in 2005, Hodges was an assistant football coach at North Medford (Ore.) High School. He spent 15 years as a coach in Oregon — 12 at the high school level and three as a graduate assistant at Southern Oregon University.

He will continue teaching at Fernley High through the end of the school year.