I-Team Investigation: Former North Texas football coach breaks his silence to clear his name
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - A former Argyle High School teacher and football coach says accusations from a student in 2020 have forever changed his life.
"We lost everything, all income immediately," said Tate Wallis sitting in his living room. "I had to resign and couldn't get a job, can't pass a background check."
Wallis was a former Southern Methodist University quarterback.
He taught and coached at Argyle High School for two years before returning to college ball in January of 2020 when he became a football coach at the University of North Texas.
"Great place, great wife. She loved teaching in Argyle…," Wallis described his life at the time. "I mean, no complaints."
But with one phone call, their world came to a screeching halt. As his eyes filled with tears and paused, he said, "I might get choked up a little bit."
Wallis said he was telling his story for the first time to someone besides family.
A 16-year-old student football trainer accused him of inappropriate behavior. She said he repeatedly touched her during several of Argyle's 2019 football practices and games.
"It's just it's been buried for three years." He recalled the day he got the call. "It was my wife's birthday. It was August 28, 2020. We were actually headed to the dinner for her birthday when I got the call."
Wallis says he eventually turned himself him. He faced two felony indictments - Improper relationship between educator and student and indecency with a child.
"This the first time that I've opened up and talked about it to anybody, probably outside of family…. I want to put it in perspective, because there are people that have it a lot worse off than I do, but by the same token, …there's a whole other side to that story. I mean, everything that that you see in the headlines or when somebody Google's my name…it's not true."
Wallis gave the I-Team notes, court documents and practice and game videos.
"I don't blame the girl. They failed her. She cried for help. By and large, kids need help," said Wallis referring to his teaching days. "In my mind as a coach, because I had to do this several times and as a teacher, I got to go meet that kid where they're at. I got to go find out what's going on and then I need to do a good job, a thorough job of vetting everything. And so, in my mind, I blame one person."
Wallis blames Paul Cairney, at the time, the police chief of Argyle ISD. He said the chief did not thoroughly investigate the girl's claims.
"He never interviewed a single player. … he never interviewed a single coach…. He never interviewed my boss, the athletic director, who was there when all this allegedly happened."
Cairney did not want to discuss the case on camera, but an affidavit obtained by the I-Team states he interviewed the victim. He does not note interviewing anyone else.
Argyle ISD sent the I-Team a statement saying it investigated with several other agencies including the Texas Department of Family Protective Services. A document from DFPS states there was "reason to believe" the teenager's allegations.
The charges against Wallis were eventually dropped. Wallis and the teenager, now 20 years old, told the I-Team the prosecution made that offer to Wallis in exchange for him surrendering his teaching license.
Fast forward three years, this case was expunged in May of 2023, but Wallis says his questions are not erased.
He's asking: Did Argyle ISD interview anyone else? What is the district's policy for investigating? And did the Argyle ISD police chief ever watch the practice and game videos where this allegedly happened?
Wallis said, "[Cairney] didn't watch a video of practice. Didn't watch the Sanger game. Didn't watch any of that stuff."
When asked how he knew, Wallis replied, "Well, I'm not going to hurt anybody with names, but he has to go ask for the video from football coaches. That's how I know."
"I have nothing in my teacher file that would raise any flags," said Wallis when asked why the AISD police chief would not have investigated. "Why didn't he investigate it? I don't know."
The I-Team asked Wallis what he would say to people who say there's no way a young girl could just make all this up.
"If somebody said there's no way this could happen, I absolutely wish that were true because I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you right now."
Wallis says he decided to speak out to clear his name. "I've read many a headline that said teacher accused of improper relationship with a student and every time you see that, most of the time, there's something there. There's a message on social media. There's a text message. There's a phone call… you know, in this case, there's nothing. …There's nothing on a video…none of that exists.:
Following the interview, Wallis took the I-Team back to the Argyle stadium. His wife and two sons played catch on the field with him.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't [want to come back,] but there is a part of it, all of it, that makes you gun shy because you wonder and who's around the next corner that can say something and you know ruin your life, …especially when you're in the more of the public, where I'm at now."
The I-Team wanted to know how common allegations of an inappropriate relationship or communication with a student are.
The Texas Education Agency says, that in the last two years, there have been 801 accusations in Texas of an inappropriate relationship or communication with a student.
A little less than half the cases (321) are still pending.
Of those resolved (480), more than 70 percent of these cases led to sanctions (344).
And a little less than 30 percent of cases did not have enough evidence to warrant sanctions or place the accused on the do not hire registry. (136)
The Argyle ISD Police Chief is no longer in the state. He initially said he'd consider an interview with the I-Team. Later, he said he couldn't answer questions because the case was expunged.
For that same reason, the prosecutor said she couldn't comment.
In a phone call, the now 20-year-old girl said, "The accusations are 100 percent true." She said if she was going to make this up, she would have made up more than just touching and groping.
The girl originally agreed to an interview, but then later emailed the I-Team saying she had decided not to say anymore.
Argyle ISD sent us the following statement:
"The Argyle ISD Police Department investigated reports beginning in March 2020 by multiple Argyle High School students regarding alleged inappropriate behavior by former AHS employee Tate Wallis during the 2018- and 2019 time frame. This individual was not employed with Argyle ISD when these reports were made. He left Argyle ISD voluntarily for new employment in January 2020 after working in the district from April 2018 to January 2020.
The initial report of alleged inappropriate behavior came in the spring of 2020 when a student told an Argyle High School teacher, who followed state law and immediately reported it to the Argyle ISD Police Chief and the Argyle High School Principal. The district also followed the guidance of School Board policies FFH (Legal) and FFH (Local).
The Argyle ISD Police Department began an intensive investigation the day it was reported by the student and worked in conjunction with the Argyle Police Department, the Flower Mound Police Department, the Texas Department of Family Protective Services, the Children's Advocacy Center for Denton County, and the Denton County District Attorney's office. The Argyle ISD Police Department engaged these additional agencies during this investigation to ensure a fair and thorough process.
Argyle ISD provided district and county counseling resources for the students who reported this alleged misconduct. The district also reported this incident to the Texas Education Agency.
Each school year Argyle ISD enforces state-required mandatory employee training for all staff, including sexual harassment and staff-to-student sexual misconduct training.
-Former Argyle ISD Police Chief Paul Cairney left the district in 2022."
