Dave Campbell’s Texas Football has confirmed that a former coach at East Texas Baptist illegally used an electronic device in a road game at the end of October. The university took immediate action once they were made aware of the offense.

“We received notification regarding inappropriate communication from the sideline during a contest this season from a (now) former member of the assistant coaching staff,” ETBU VP for Athletics Ryan Erwin said. “We immediately reported it to the American Southwest Conference office and the conference head of officials.”

The rule in question is Rule 1-4-10, which states, “Players may not be equipped with any electronic, mechanical or other signal devices for the purpose of communicating with any source.”

A 15-yard penalty would’ve been assessed, and the offending player would’ve been ejected if the opposing team had discovered the communication device during the game. 

“The American Southwest Conference was notified by East Texas Baptist University of the use of an in-game communication device by its football team,” ASC commissioner Amy Carlton said in a statement. “The staff consulted the Coordinator of Football Officiating, who confirmed the action would violate an NCAA Football Rule and noted how the penalty for the game rule violation would have been assessed if discovered during play. ETBU officials took action as an institution regarding the inappropriate game activity, and the conference accepted the institution's action.”

The university or the conference office did not name the assistant coach responsible for the violation, but it is believed to have been offensive coordinator Josh Moore. Moore's name was removed from the team website towards the end of the season following notification of the incident. He was in his first season at ETBU and had previously served as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears from 2014-2015 and the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2017.

A former member of the United States Air Force, Moore had experience as the recruiting coordinator at Navarro and Georgia State and served as the Director of Football Operations for the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL in 2020.

ETBU announced a head coaching change on Monday, with Brian Mayper retiring from collegiate coaching to pursue other opportunities. Defensive coordinator Calvin Ruzicka was promoted to be the Tigers seventh head football coach.