Pat Jones refuses to be sidelined.
The former assistant coach of the Bellevue Football program is back with Book Two of his series Did the Truth Even Matter? detailing the triumphs and trials of the Bellevue Football program. In Book One, “The Real Bellevue Football Story,” he shares a mountain of research going back to the high school team’s beginnings in the 1920s and offers a behind-the-scenes look from his three decades on the coaching staff. Readers follow the 12-time state champions’ extraordinary run under head coach Butch Goncharoff, including their 2012 national championship, their 67-game winning streak, and their incredible wins over national powerhouses like De La Salle and Long Beach Poly.
Book Two, “Fake News, Felons and Football” picks up where the first book left off. Coach Jones dives into the controversies surrounding the team during the 2015 season, and the investigation that took place from September 2015 to April 2016.
“It describes in detail the strange events that occurred during that 2015 season, and reviews yet another awful, inaccurate and mean-spirited newspaper article the night before the seniors’ final game for the state championship,” writes Coach Jones on the book’s website, didthetruthevenmatter.com.
A line-by-line critique of 68-page investigative report
In Book Two, Coach Jones meticulously combs through the first 55 pages of the 68-page Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) investigative report prepared by two former federal prosecutors, and provides inside knowledge, documents and background which he says disprove much of the report. Readers will also find evidence which the author says contradicts local media articles from December 2015, which accused Bellevue Football coaching staff of “wooing” players from other districts.
As in Book One, Coach Jones has included a thorough list of references and source material on his website. He says local media and the WIAA report authors made incorrect assumptions, and then built their stories on those inaccurate assumptions, ignoring evidence which supported the BHS Football program.
The book also offers evidence which Coach Jones says “dismantles the false list of ‘42 transfers to Bellevue High School from 2008 to 2015’” and explains a critical conflict of interest from the report’s lead prosecutor.
In addition to his book series, Pat Jones is currently a football coach at Kennedy Catholic High School, youth coach in the Puget Sound region, and continues to serve as President of the Bellevue Coaches Association union. Both books in the Did the Truth Even Matter series are available now on Amazon as both print and ebooks. You can also find a link to the book and its many references and source materials on Coach Jones’ website, didthetruthevenmatter.com.
