Amid investigation, Coronado begins search to replace coach

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Monday, April 6, 2009 | 4:41 p.m.

John Mannion is out as Coronado High’s football coach.

Mannion, who is on paid leave from his teaching job with the Clark County School District while school police investigate missing funds from the football program, said Monday it appears his tenure is over.

While he said Coronado administrators have not informed him he is no longer the coach, the district is advertising the position in its Hotline newsletter.

“They haven’t said anything to me,” Mannion said.

District spokesman Penny Ramos-Bennett said Monday that Mannion resigned last week. Mannion, however, said he was shocked to hear the position was open.

“I didn’t resign,” Mannion said. “Don’t you have to write a letter of resignation? I haven’t written anything. At this point I haven’t resigned from anything and nobody has talked to me about the head coaching job being open.”

Mannion was placed on paid leave April 2. It is against district policy to discuss personnel issues.

The investigation followed a scheduled internal school district audit, which looked at deposits and disbursements for athletic activities and clubs at the school, said Pat Skorkowsky, the Southeast Region Assistant Superintendent.

The mid-February audit alerted school police to potential discrepancies, Skorkowsky said.

Mannion could not comment on the specifics of the investigation, but his attorney, Vince Counsul, said the funds in question were stolen from Mannion’s office.

“There was a report of theft in some fashion,” Counsul said. “There is a student out there who initiated the report.”

Counsul said the theft report was made after the season and before the February audit. He added the amount in question is overblown and significantly less than the $20,000 that was reportedly not accounted for.

“We are trying to work with investigators to provide additional information,” said Counsul, who took the case late last week and attempted to contact school police today.

Counsul said Mannion turned in roughly $6,000 of raised funds — mostly cash and a few checks — before the investigation started. Those funds were from fundraisers during the summer and fall, Counsul said.

Counsul declined to comment on why Mannion waited to turn in the money.

“I can’t get into that now,” Counsul said. “There was some ineptitude displayed in handling the funds, yes. But there was no criminal intent.”

Counsul said his goal is to preserve Mannion’s job as a teacher and get him off his current status of “home assignment.”

Mannion replaced Alex Moore last May. Coronado won its first two games in 2008 but lost seven straight to miss the playoffs.