Former Montgomery Bell Academy football coach Dan McGugin has told the players he coached that he was the middleman in three student-athlete financial aid violations at the school. But, writes Ken Whitehouse on The City Paper's site, McGugin points out those instances did not affect the school's varsity teams and thus were not responsible for the sanctions state officials have imposed on the school.

I know now that my and the schools understanding of the rules was not correct. I am not offering my misunderstanding of the rules as an excuse. However, it is important to me that you know my mistakes were made without willful intent to violate any rules of the TSSAA.