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Palestine Westwood’s football team will not forfeit any football games and head football coach and athletic director Richard Bishop will be suspended from football activities for the remainder of the regular season and postseason, the UIL State Executive Committee ruled during a meeting on Thursday.

On Monday, the District 9-3A Division I District Executive Committee recommended head coach Richard Bishop be suspended for the remainder of the season following a ruling Monday regarding allegations he orchestrated and executed a plan to videotape opponents’ signals while scouting. The committee also ruled and recommended the Panthers forfeit all of their district games for the 2024 season.

Palestine Westwood appealed those recommendations during Thursday’s meeting, and the committee granted the appeal regarding forfeiture of contests, ruling that Westwood will not have to forfeit any past or future games.

Palestine Westwood is 7-0 overall and 2-0 in District 9-3A Division I competition. The Panthers are scheduled to host Teague at 7 p.m. Friday and will play at Fairfield on Nov. 1 before hosting Huntington on Nov. 7.

The allegations stemmed from Bishop attending the Teague at Fairfield game on Oct. 11, and Palestine Westwood technology assistant Donald McCoy rode to the game with Bishop. McCoy recorded some videos from his phone during the first half of that game, which was noticed by assistant coaches from Fairfield. McCoy said the videos were for personal use to send to his girlfriend who lives in Virginia.

Palestine Westwood superintendent Wade Stanford said he was notified by Teague superintendent Chris Skinner at 8:04 p.m. that the recording had occurred, and he contacted Bishop. Bishop and McCoy said they were in line at the concession stand, and Bishop told McCoy to delete the videos and to stop recording. McCoy did admit to recording one more video after that happened of the Fairfield band performing at halftime.

“I’ve been in this profession 17 years, and I’ve tried to uphold the standards and ethics of this profession and respect obviously what y’all do, respect what the THSCA does,” Bishop said during Thursday’s meeting. “Athletics has been a part of my entire life. I’ve been the head coach here seven years, never had any issues regarding any type of nature of these things.

“We took over a program that was extremely down and I think we’ve done it the right way through character development, mentorship, servant leadership, all of those things. At no point do I feel I’ve ever jeopardized our profession in any way.”

McCoy, Stanford, Fairfield head football coach and athletic director John Bachtel, Fairfield assistant coaches Tyler Terry, Aaron Allen and Shawn Welch, Bishop’s attorney Andrew Rhoden were among those who spoke at Thursday’s meeting, along with Diboll superintendent and District 9-3A Division I District Executive Committee chair Brian Bowman, who is the former principal at Gilmer High School.

After hearing all sides and statements, the UIL SEC ruled Bishop be removed from all football activities the remainder of the season and that McCoy be suspended from all UIL activities for the rest of the school year. Bishop will also be on probation through the 2025-26 school year.

Following that ruling, the discussion opened about the forfeiture recommendation.

“The district, we understand there was a rules violation, no argument from that standpoint,” an emotional Stanford said. “There is a vehicle for which we have consequences for adults, y’all have done that today. I appreciate the work that you have done; it’s hard work, but you’ve done that. Our district, we value student voice, and we’re working tremendously hard to incorporate community voice. We also value standards, and those standards are high. We’ve had adults that have missed that standard, and ultimately, I have missed that standard as the leader of the district.

“But the ones that haven’t are our kids. That’s not just our football team, but that’s our band, our cheerleaders, our drill, our other support groups and our student body. And the other ones that have upheld the standard is our community, and they’ve worked hard at that.

“Twenty-one years as a coach, seven as an athletic director and head football coach, I know the value of athletics. I know the impact it has on a community and what it does to bring them together. And we’ve experienced that. Like I said, we value student voice. They’re not here today, so I’m standing for them, and I’m their advocate. I believe Mr. Bowman and the DEC acted in good faith. I believe they tried to do what they felt like was right, even I don’t agree with it, I believe they acted in good faith.

“But there is a vehicle to step back and look at the consequences for people that have done everything we have asked them to do, and that’s our kids. What I would ask you to do is consider that. Consider what they’ve done, consider the standard that they’ve reached and their striving, dedication and commitment every day, to not only change an athletic program but also change a community and bring our community together. That’s what our kids have done.”

After discussing multiple forfeit possibilities, the committee ultimately ruled that Westwood would not have to forfeit any games and will play the remainder of their schedule, along with being eligible to compete in the Class 3A Division I playoffs. The Panthers are currently ranked No. 6 in the state.