High School Pays Coach $116K in Separation Agreement

 A Texas school district and its embattled head varsity football coach have reached a separation agreement that includes a hefty payout for the coach.

According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, the McGregor Independent School District Board of Trustees unanimously voted to a voluntary separation agreement with McGregor head coach and athletic director Judd Thrash that include a $116,000 payout for Thrash.

The board did not comment on the investigation into McGregor, which began back in January, when the board unanimously voted to place him on administrative leave and directed the school district’s legal counsel to investigate the athletics department.

Thrash has been with McGregor ISD since March 2017 and has a two-year record of 10-11, including a playoff berth in his first season.

In exchange for resigning, the board has given Thrash a letter of recommendation and paid him a lump sum of $116,733.39. The agreement also states that the district found no evidence of misconduct by Thrash during its investigation. 

The Tribune-Herald reports that several people who attended the board meeting where the separation was announced were angry with the board. One woman, who refused to give her name, said the board is “hiding something” and that there was nothing to investigate. 

“This poor guy’s name has been drug through the mud,” she said. “It’s crooked. It’s a lot of lies and secrets.”