North Texas quarterbacks coach Tate Wallis has been placed on leave after he was arrested Thursday on two counts of improper relationship between a student and an educator.
The charge is a felony offense in Texas.
“We have been made aware of charges brought against a member of our football coaching staff for a matter unrelated to his employment with the university," North Texas said in a statement to the Denton Record-Chronicle. "The employee has been placed on administrative leave and will not be allowed on campus or to participate in any job-related duties while on leave. We have initiated a review of the available information, and we will take appropriate action following completion of the review.”
According to the arrest record, Wallis was booked and released on $20,000 bond Thursday. The offense dates occurred in October and December of 2019, according to the record, when Wallis worked as the offensive coordinator at Argyle (Texas) High School.
In a statement on Friday, Argyle ISD said it became aware of the allegations in March, after he had left the district.
"We are asking the public to keep an open mind," Wallis's attorney Stephanie Luce Ola said in a statement to FootballScoop. "Coach Wallis is a good man. Unfortunately, we cannot discuss specific facts with the media, but we look forward to his day in court so we can properly confront these accusations."
Wallis was hired as UNT's quarterbacks coach on Jan. 31. He oversaw a quarterback competition as the Mean Green look to replace 4-year starter Mason Fine; redshirt sophomores Austin Aune and Jason Bean are listed as co-starters heading into UNT's season opener against Houston Baptist on Saturday.
North Texas and Houston Baptist kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday night on ESPN3.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.