Following forfeits, Butler suspends football head coach ahead of Jayhawk playoffs
A day after the Butler Community College football team was forced to forfeit all of its wins from the 2021 season, the school suspended head coach Tim Schaffner three games on Wednesday in a self-imposed penalty, according to multiple sources. The suspension was first reported by The Butler County Times-Gazette.
It is the latest in a story that has rocked the world of juco football, as Butler had just knocked off No. 10-ranked Garden City to finish the regular season with a 6-2 record, moved up to a No. 14 national ranking in this week’s NJCAA poll and seemed poised as a serious title contender in the Jayhawk Conference playoffs.
But all of those accomplishments have been stripped by the NJCAA after it was discovered that Butler had been using an ineligible player this season on offense. Instead of being the No. 3 seed in the Jayhawk playoffs and hosting a first-round game this Sunday, the Grizzlies — now considered 0-8 — are the No. 8 seed and travel to No. 1 seed Coffeyville, a 6-1 team ranked No. 7 nationally, which goes from facing a one-win Fort Scott team to battling a top-15 team in the opening round.
And now Butler will be without Schaffner, who also serves as the team’s defensive coordinator, for at least the rest of the Jayhawk playoffs. Schaffner’s three-game suspension could roll over into next season if Butler doesn’t play three more games this season.
Butler has not announced who will be the head coach in Schaffner’s absence, although long-time defensive guru Steve Braet is listed as the team’s associate head coach.
Schaffner and Butler athletic director Todd Carter did not respond to interview requests on Thursday, while an official from the Jayhawk Conference confirmed the reason for Butler’s forfeits and the suspension of Schaffner, but said the conference will not offer an official statement on either topic.
Schaffner has been at Butler since 2005 and has been the head coach since 2015, compiling a 44-21 record in the six seasons prior to this one. A defensive-first coach, Schaffner has developed a “chaos tempo” brand that has led Grizzlies to least seven wins in five of his six seasons and to bowl game wins in 2018 and 2019.
Butler’s forfeits had ramifications felt by every team in the Jayhawk, as the conference decided to shuffle its playoff pairings after they had already been set at the conclusion of the regular season and just five days before Sunday’s opening games.
In addition to Butler traveling to Coffeyville, the new playoff pairings for Sunday’s slate include No. 2 Independence (6-1) hosting No. 7 Fort Scott (1-7), No. 3 Hutchinson (5-2) hosting No. 6 Highland (2-5) and No. 4 Garden City (5-2) hosting No. 5 Dodge City (3-4).
The conference championship game will be played at Riverfront Stadium in downtown Wichita, as the baseball field will be transformed into a football field for the 1 p.m. game on Sunday, November 21.
.jpg)