A former Dryersville (Iowa) Beckman High School football coach has received a written reprimand on his license and ordered to take an ethics class by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners after he told student-athletes they were “like family” and took them to off-campus activities without parental permission.
According to KCRG, Dyersville Beckman football coach Cole Mather — the district coach of the year in 2025 — reached out to select student-athletes on social media to invite them to an Iowa State football game. In his messages, he assured students this event was fine because they were “like family.”
Mathers did receive parental permission to take the student-athletes to the game.
The investigation by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners began in January and initially claimed Mather had an inappropriate relationship with students. Later is expanded that description and explained that Mather violated a policy of “willfully or repeatedly departing from or failing to conform to the minimum standards of acceptable and prevailing educational practice in the state of Iowa.”
Throughout the investigation, Mathers maintained that he did nothing wrong, but he did accept the consequences handed down by the board. Mathers also stepped away from his position has head football coach, which he had held since 2023, but he remains on the Dyersville Beckman website, listed as a physical education teacher.
As a result of the investigation, Mathers will receive a written reprimand on his teaching license and will be required to take an ethics class as a part of a one-year probation from coaching. Neither Dyersville Beckman High School or the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners released a statement on the matter.
