R L Wilson Law Firm takes On Case for Coach Randy Palmer -- Pro Bono

In a renewed effort to prevent injustices throughout Texas, R L Wilson, P.C. Law Firm has undertaken the representation of Randy Palmer -- Athletic Director and Head Football Coach for the Poteet ISD. Coach Palmer is a man of stellar character, humility and impeccable credentials. He is a Pleasanton native who rose to the ranks of the NFL, and decided to return to South Central Texas to give back to his community. Unfortunately, South Texas School Board politics has consumed Coach Palmer's job, and he is fighting for his position at Poteet.

Attorney Bob Schaezler of R L Wilson, P.C. Law Firm has been Coach Palmer's public face during this trying ordeal. The media storm has been overwhelming, and Bob has appeared on KENS 5 TV, and on KTSA's Trey Ware radio show.

Watch the Video here.


By Zeke MacCormack - Express-News

POTEET — The school board’s latest spin of its revolving door for athletic directors unleashed a flood of tears and questions — and a walkout by angry students the morning after.

Trustees voted to not extend the contract of first-year athletic director Randy Palmer despite testimonials and demonstrations of support from many in a crowd of about 200 at Monday’s board meeting.

The vote means a fifth new coach in five years will lead the Aggie football squad. Under Palmer, the team went to the playoffs with a 6-5 season — which included beating archrival Pleasanton for the first time in at least 40 years, according to Express-News archives.

Trustee Dicki Lee Sparks, who backed Palmer, said many in the emotional crowd surrounded the board after the vote and wouldn’t disband for an hour.

“We had 15- and 16-year-old boys bawling and demanding to know why, asking ... ‘Why, why are you doing this to us?’” Sparks said. “They wanted answers.”

About 100 students left the Poteet High School campus in protest starting at midmorning Tuesday, Principal Andy Castillo said.

The students will be counted as absent, but whether the absence is excused will vary because “we evidently have some parents who were aware of where their kids were,” he said.

Two other coaches who are already with the district and have family links to trustees voting to oust Palmer have been mentioned as likely successors.

The high turnover among athletic directors is unhealthy for students, parent Irma Estrada told trustees.

“It’s not too late to do the right thing here and do what’s best for our kids, and that is to keep Coach Palmer,” she said.

Morgan Wagner, a senior on the Aggies offensive line, told trustees that Palmer was “liked and beloved” by most students.

But the board’s resolve against Palmer was even stronger than on Feb. 23, when trustees voted 4-3 to recommend termination of his contract, despite support for extending his $57,000-a-year contract by interim Superintendent Tim Coyle.

Trustees didn’t cite any specifics Monday before voting 5-2 for a motion that said terminating Palmer was “in the best interest” of the district.

“I still don’t understand why, what the reasoning is,” Palmer, 33, said early Tuesday. “There was a lot of people in support of me, and there were a select few against me.”

Trustee Barbara Reyes, who changed her stance to favor dismissing Palmer, could not be reached for comment.

School board President Mike McIntyre denied Palmer was dismissed so that a relative of a trustee could get the job, and he said Palmer will soon receive written notification of the basis for the board’s action.

“Once that happens, if he wants to disclose it, he can do it,” McIntyre said. “There are legitimate concerns, and if people were more aware of them there wouldn’t be such a big deal, but that’s sort of the nature of the beast. We’re given access to information that not everybody else gets to see.”

He said he respects the students’ right to express their displeasure but said of the walkout that the weeks before the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills testing “is not the time to have this kind of distraction.”

Sparks said she waited to hear a valid reason for firing Palmer but that none was provided.

Fellow trustees cited “piddly little things, but nothing to me that would warrant someone losing their job,” Sparks said.

Superintendent Coyle said Palmer had no blemishes on his record.

“I can’t believe we couldn’t come to some kind of different solution,” Coyle said Tuesday, calling the mood on campus “disappointed and frustrated.”