Texas coach on paid leave after allegations she kissed students, asked players for bail money

The head coach of the University of Texas Permian Basin’s women’s soccer team is on paid administrative leave amid anonymous complaints that she kissed students and asked players to pay her bail after a DWI arrest, according to Midland TV station KMID.

The station’s sports director, Kayler Smith, outlined the allegations against Coach Carla Tejas, 28, in a Twitter thread on Sunday, saying the school’s action against the coach stemmed from claims made by an anonymous group of players.

Players made the claims in a 1,154-word letter distributed to officials with the NCAA, the Lone Star Conference and UTPB, according to Smith’s thread.

Smith described other claims made against Tejas in the letter, including that she distributed alcohol to minors and that she once donned a disguise to sneak back into a soccer game from which she’d been ejected. The anonymous players also allege the coach encouraged them to hurt members of opposing teams.

What’s more, players said they think one of their own team members is an Uruguayan national not enrolled in the university, according to Smith.

Tejas was allowed to keep coaching after her Sept. 11 arrest because neither the university nor the NCAA has any regulations regarding DWIs, KMID reported.

During a press conference on Monday, UT Permian Basin Athletic Director Todd Doley said that the university is investigating the allegations against Tejas, KMID reports. The university also confirmed that Tejas is on paid administrative leave, according to the station.

The reports on Tejas’ program have since gone viral. A TikTok posted by Barstool Sports compares the West Texas coach’s alleged antics to those featured on Blue Mountain State, a sitcom about a college football team and their crooked coach.

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This article appears in Oct 5-18, 2022.