College football

Allegations shock McPherson's ex-coaches

Southeast High's Paul Maechtle said he did not suspect anything.

By PETE YOUNG, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 5, 2003

Paul Maechtle, longtime coach of perennial powerhouse Bradenton Southeast, called the meeting with prized pupil Adrian McPherson and his parents to get everyone on the same page before the recruiting deluge struck.

"No surprises," was Maechtle's mandate to McPherson.

It was March 2000, several months before McPherson's senior season. He would become the state's Mr. Football and Mr. Basketball. His recruitment already was accelerating feverishly.

"We sat in this office, and I said, 'The one thing we want is don't give us any surprises. Don't do anything we're not expecting. Don't do anything we're not anticipating,"' Maechtle said. "No visiting schools or changing visits or signing without talking to us first and making sure we know what's going on and can discuss it with you and choose a course of action.'

"Everything went fine with (recruiting), but I guess not anymore."

Tuesday, more than three months after McPherson was dismissed from the team at Florida State (and later charged with the theft, forgery and cashing of a $3,500 check), he was charged with gambling on pro and college games, including FSU football.

"Now it seems as though you can't go by a week without something new coming up that brings you back to the (initial) level of disappointment (when he was dismissed)," Maechtle said. "When it first happened, there was not a night that went by that I got a decent night's sleep until Christmas, when I went to see my sister (in Illinois) who has cancer. Then it just became something else."

Maechtle said he was as close to McPherson as any player in his 22 seasons, which includes more than 200 wins and two state titles. He said he was stunned by the latest development because "his mom and dad have really taken care of him."

When told of Tuesday's charges, Maechtle responded slowly.

"You're kidding me. What the heck? Oh, my God. Oh man, it's like getting kicked in the stomach again. Obviously, it snowballed out of control.

"And did I read that he was in a car accident (Monday)? This is just crazy."

Elliot Washington, Southeast's basketball coach, was friends with the McPherson family for many years before coaching McPherson in high school. Washington also oversees the discipline office at Southeast, and he said McPherson never was in any serious trouble in high school and never had been suspected of gambling.

Washington and Maechtle expressed concern about the public perception of Southeast. McPherson is the third former Southeast athlete recently dismissed from a college football team, including Travis Garvin (Missouri) and Bosley Allen (North Carolina).

"I know Coach Maechtle and all of the football coaches, and I know they teach and instill discipline every day," Washington said in December.

Maechtle said he was "totally discouraged, totally disappointed," in graduates who sullied the school's image and those who believed Southeast athletes were not given proper guidance.

"There have been so many kids from this school who have done so well, athletes and nonathletes, in so many areas," Maechtle said. "You would think all of the good stories, stories like (Florida State player) Todd Washington's, would (overshadow) that. But the negatives always are going to sell more newspapers."

Maechtle said he never has spoken with his players about gambling because he has never seen or heard of any of them being involved in it.

"I've never suspected a player of gambling," Maechtle said. "If you're asking me if (McPherson's gambling) had it's beginning here, well, if it did, I sure didn't know about it. I was at a coaching clinic the other day in Orlando, and guys were asking me, college coaches, some who had recruited Adrian, were asking me what happened.

"I don't know. I don't get it."

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