Players ineligible, coach suspended in latest Turlock High football revelation
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Five Turlock High players ruled ineligible for 2025 due to bylaw violations.
- Assistant coach suspended one year; district cites role in off-season team.
- School must submit action plan by Sept. 1; appeal process remains available.
In the latest result from the Sac-Joaquin Section’s investigation into undue influence and other violations by the Turlock High football program earlier this year, five players are ineligible for the 2025 season and an assistant coach has been suspended for the season.
The information was relayed at a Turlock Quarterback Club information session on Thursday evening at Crane Park. The QB Club posted on Instagram Thursday afternoon information about the meeting that included Turlock High School players and parents.
Nearly the entire Turlock football team and coaching staff attended, along with a 20 to 25 player parents.
The section’s transfer portal has not officially opened for the new school year and names of players affected by the suspensions are not on the transfer rulings page. But it was said multiple times by Turlock head coach James Peterson, players and Turlock High Principal David Kline at QB Club meeting that five players will have to sit out the season for their participation with “The Lock.” The team plays 7-on-7, involving the quarterback, receivers and running backs, and 5-on-5, involving linemen.
Kline said the section will send letters to players deemed ineligible, but he wanted to let them know as soon as possible, so Turlock High informed those families over the phone.
The season sit-out is a result of violations of the 510 bylaw regarding undue influence because “The Lock,” which is coached by Turlock High coaches, included players from surrounding schools who then transferred to Turlock High hoping to play football this season.
While having the five players sit out is a mandate from the Sac-Joaquin Section, the yearlong suspension of the assistant coach, Darron Silva, came down from the Turlock Unified School District, according to sources. Silva has worked closely with “The Lock” since its creation a few years ago.
Turlock High administration has to come up with a Corrective Action Plan that is due Sept. 1, and also was asked to enforce self-imposed sanctions. Both were part of a set of penalties for violating four Sac-Joaquin Section bylaws from January to May 2025.
In a conversation with The Bee on Friday afternoon, Kline said coaches involved with training or coaching athletes outside of Turlock High have to sign a document saying they will work with the school to disclose any pre-enrollment contact of possible future transfers to the Sac-Joaquin Section. Doing this provides transparency for student athletes, parents and the section.
“We want to let parents know that working out with a specific coach in a different setting is pre-enrollment contact and the section will be notified,” Kline said, “and that could have an impact on their eligibility. … So if somebody were to come back and say that a specific athlete was working out with a Turlock High coach, we could have documentation to say, yes, they were working out, but we notified the section and we notified the parent that it is pre-enrollment contact.”
Kline also said some of the self-imposed sanctions involve “The Lock.”
Kline said coaches still interested in coaching at Turlock High had to give up coaching “The Lock” for the 2026 season. They also decided they would not let “The Lock” use Turlock’s facilities for the 2026 season. Essentially, Kline said, they are asking “The Lock” to pause operations until they can fine-tune signing kids up so there is no pre-enrollment contact. And if there is, Kline added that will be communicated to the parents, team and section.
“We wanted those self-imposed sanctions to ensure that mistakes related to pre-enrollment contact and the use of Turlock High facilities and equipment during the off-season would not continue.”
Parents and players made voices heard
Parents expressed frustration with the district and the Sac-Joaquin Section over what they felt was a lack of transparency during the process. Some noted they were in the dark about investigations into the program, stating they did not know why their son was ruled ineligible for one season. They felt the kids and a coach were being punished for the wrong box being checked, marking Turlock High as “limited” instead of “out-of-season,” causing a violation of section bylaws 504.7 and 504.9. Coach Peterson told The Bee on Tuesday that it was a clerical error.
Parents’ frustrations with the section stemmed not just from the sanctions but also the amount of time it took for the ruling to be made. Because the actions came on Tuesday, one day into the start of official football practice, they claim they are now short on time to receive, process and properly appeal the rulings before the start of the season.
They also noted that they believe there’s been pre-enrollment contact with other Stanislaus District schools that the section chooses to ignore. Instead, focusing all of its attention on Turlock.
There was also strong support for Silva at Thursday’s session.
One parent shared that students messaged one another via a Snapchat thread and were prepared to boycott practice in protest of Silva’s suspension. They also planned to meet at a pizza parlor to discuss how they would form a unified front, hoping to convince the district to overturn its decision. One player confirmed the parent’s statement, saying they planned to meet and gather email addresses of district employees or board members to express their concerns with how Silva was disciplined.
Multiple student athletes expressed that Silva is like a father figure to them, putting “food on their plate” and encouraging players on the football team who wanted to quit, telling them they are wanted and needed on the team in any capacity, whether they have on pads or elect to be a statistician or manager.
Many asked multiple times why Silva was suspended without warning, to which Kline replied he is not authorized to discuss personnel matters. “It’s really a legal item,” Kline said, “that we can’t comment on somebody specifically in regards to their status as a coach or employee.”
Next steps for Turlock
In some cases, ineligible players may have the opportunity to return to their previous school and regain their eligibility.
There is also a chance for appeal, from both families of the players and the school.
Kline told parents Thursday that if they want to appeal a player’s eligibility decision, they can file paperwork with the section office. The school has the option to appeal the section’s sanctions that include the Corrective Action Plan and self-imposed sanctions, as well as no home playoff games in 2025-26 season, two-year probation, off-season restrictions.
“Turlock High is currently weighing its options with regards to a possible appeal to the section’s ruling,” Kline said.
If it decides to appeal, TUSD will work with new athletic director Sean Gilbert to send it to the section office.
This story was originally published August 2, 2025 at 8:27 AM.
