ROANOKE, Va. – Finger-pointing and the blame game. Our investigation into the fallout of a local football program has taken yet another turn.
10 News has been looking into the South Forest Community Christian program for weeks and it appears this story goes beyond Roanoke, stretching all the way to California.
Since our initial reports Pope Mitchell, the athletic director and head coach of SFCC, has resigned.
But after speaking to former players and an assistant coach, many believe the root of the program was much bigger than him.
Where did the funding come from?
When we sat down with Mitchell in July, he was adamant that his team was funded by Community Christian College, an online school in Redlands, California.
“The funding comes from the bodies and the academics. To be eligible for our program, you must take classes through CCC,” Mitchell said in that interview.
CCC was quick to deny these statements, telling 10 News they have no affiliation with the team in Roanoke.
We spoke with an athletic director with CCC, Tracy Davis, who said he nor Community Christian College has anything to do with SFCC.
“Community Christian College has nothing to do with this and they keep getting brought into this,” Davis said over the phone.
Davis has a theory of why they are being involved – because Mitchell is his son.
“You don’t know the back story, this is an attack from over there because of my son. And I know that,” Davis said.
But since our initial stories on the broken promises of the SFCC program aired, we’ve obtained documents that may suggest CCC’s involvement. The first, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between an assistant coach, CCC’s president Brian Carroll, and Davis.
10 News inquired about the MOU, asking Davis why their names appear if they aren’t involved, and he told us this:
Davis: That one that you’re talking about with Virginia is not real. That is not a contract that I signed or Brian signed.
Alyssa: So do you think Pope altered it to put Roanoke Virginia in there?
Davis: That is our belief. That’s all I can tell you.
However, that MOU was sent from Davis’ email account to Mitchell back in 2020, when the SFCC program was just starting up. We sent this evidence to CCC, and they responded by saying, “It appears the documents are all made-up.”
That was just the start of communications between Davis and the team in Roanoke.
In 2020, he sent Austin Wilhelm, a former wide receiver for Alleghany High School, an email welcoming him to the Bobcats program – something Davis denies ever doing.
Alyssa: The welcome letter you sent the players from your account again, welcoming them to the Bobcats.
Davis: I don’t send welcome letters, they’re not my kids.
Alyssa: We have them from your CCC email saying, ‘welcome to the Bobcats.’
Another link between the local team and the California college is the $1,500 athletic fee that Wilhelm said CCC added to his invoice.
Wilhelm says the college still calls trying to collect money, though he left the team two years ago before even playing a game.
Davis: They’re not a CCC player and it has nothing to do with CCC.
Alyssa: Then why do we have a receipt from a player, a transcript, that CCC took out $1,500 for an athletic fee when he’s not playing for CCC. Why would they do that?
Davis: If you read the MOU agreement, it tells them what they’re going to get in an MOU agreement.
But remember, CCC and Davis have previously said the MOU agreement is not real.
As far as funding, Davis outlined in an email to Mitchell sent in 2020 how CCC gets paid from the players who enroll in the college.
“So whatever is booked is what we will get compensated for,” Davis’ email read. “We will not get the fee for any student who has not completed financial aid.”
On the phone, however, Davis claimed he had no knowledge.
Alyssa: If CCC can explain why they’re charging the kids’ FAFSA $1,500 a player, and don’t say MOU, because they said MOU is made up.
Davis: I am not a part of that, that, in particular, I don’t know how that comes about.
However, Davis sent another email to Mitchell with a student consent form for an Athletic Program Participation Fee Form that he told Mitchell his players needed to fill out. That fee, again, is listed at $1,500.
We asked CCC about the athletic fee and they responded, “For any questions regarding the use of funds, please spend some time on our website. We fund both on-campus and off-campus students to play sports.”
There was no further explanation as to why those fees were applied to athletes in Virginia who aren’t recognized by CCC. Mitchell spelled it out from the beginning.
Pope Mitchell: That’s where our funding comes from, is that once they have taken classes through CCC, then those funds for those persons will be released to us athletically.
Alyssa: So CCC gives you funds if the kids enroll?
Pope Mitchell: Yes.
This notion is reiterated yet again by someone affiliated with CCC through an email from an on-campus athletic director at the college to Mitchell in 2021. It had an attachment of the football roster and the SFCC players who did not apply for FAFSA. The email goes on to say, “without this part being completed, funds can not be drawn down.”
We spoke with many of the players who believe Mitchell had good intentions but that the money promised to their program from Davis rarely went to their program. They also said that Mitchell fronted much of the cost himself.
Mitchell said that all he wanted was for the players who think they couldn’t make it, to have a chance to try.
No one from Community Christian College or South Forest Community Christian has been accused of or charged with criminal misconduct in connection with the SFCC Bobcats program.
Despite many documents contradicting CCC’s position, the college stands by its initial statement: It has no ties with South Forest Community Christian.
In response to our findings, Brian Carroll, president of CCC provided this statement to 10 News:
“This is a regrettable event, and we appreciate Alyssa Rae at WSLS for bringing this to our attention. We will do everything we can to help. Community Christian College is offering the Roanoke students an opportunity to play for our NJCAA Division 1 teams in California and Michigan or will provide them a full refund, while allowing them to keep all grades and courses.”
Brian Carroll, president of CCC