UI Sacks Assistant Coach Monarrez Jr. Won’T Face Criminal Charges After University Assures Boise Police It Will Deal With Problem

An assistant football coach will be dismissed by the University of Idaho today for his role in a drunken melee last week following the Vandals’ Humanitarian Bowl win, The Spokesman-Review has learned.

Dionicio Monarrez Jr. failed to tell his boss about the incident, even after two UI players had ended up in jail.

UI head football coach Chris Tormey found out when “he saw it on television the next morning,” said Roy Eiguren, attorney for the university.

Although police said Tuesday they will not file charges against the assistant coach, The Spokesman-Review has learned the university will place defensive line coach Monarrez on administrative leave and not renew his contract.

University President Robert Hoover is expected to announce Monarrez’s dismissal today.

“The university has a very welldefined procedure to deal with its coaching staff in situations such as this,” Eiguren said. “Coaches at the University of Idaho have to properly represent the university. This type of activity obviously is not acceptable.”

Monarrez and Tormey did not return phone calls Tuesday.

Police said last week an “extremely intoxicated” man who identified himself as an assistant coach confronted a police sergeant during the melee. But the department said Tuesday the case is closed and the coach won’t be charged with obstructing an officer.

“We’re talking misdemeanors here,” Boise police spokesman Lt. Jim Tibbs said. “It’s not worth pursuing it any further. The university is going to deal with this issue and will probably be more effective dealing with this issue.”

Tibbs said reports that a second assistant coach had been sneaking underage players into bars and getting them drinks were never substantiated, and leads “quickly vaporized.”

“We’re not going to go interview people in the bar. It’s just not worth it at this point,” he said.

Police determined that an assistant coach and six Vandal players were among the 100 people who spilled into the street when a strip of downtown bars closed at 2 a.m. Thursday. When police ordered the rowdy crowd of revelers to leave, some responded by throwing cans and dirt clods at the officers.

One patrol car had its tire punctured, but police said that was “not caused by anyone affiliated with the UI football program.”

Both players plan to plead innocent to their charges. Wil Beck, 19, has hired David Nevin, one of Idaho’s top criminal defense attorneys, to represent him.

Nevin, who successfully defended Kevin Harris against charges stemming from the Ruby Ridge standoff in 1992, couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday, but he informed the university that he intends to take Beck’s case to trial.

As the players’ cases wind their way through court, they’ll retain their status on the team.

“The bottom line is there is a difference between the Boise City Police Department and the two students, regarding what the facts were,” Eiguren said.

Beck faces charges of underage drinking, resisting and obstructing an officer and disorderly conduct. He’s a 6-foot-2, 312-pound nose tackle and former all-state player at Central Valley High School in the Spokane Valley.

The other player who was arrested, Keith Cosseboom, 22, was charged with fighting, a misdemeanor. As of Tuesday afternoon, he had not informed the university whether he’d hired a lawyer.

Cosseboom, a junior offensive lineman and the largest player on the Vandals team at 6-8 and 325 pounds, is a graduate of Rogers High School in Spokane.

Both players were released on bond from the Ada County Jail within 2-1/2 hours after their arrests early Thursday morning, and ordered to appear in court Jan. 21. A lawyer can appear for them on or before that date, and enter a plea.

Eiguren said the police decision not to bring charges against the assistant coach frees the university to act in that case.

“We made it real clear (to police) that if they didn’t have the evidence or didn’t want to pursue it, we had a process that would address it,” he said.

Eiguren said the university is looking into possible violations of NCAA rules, violations of university policies regarding the conduct of a coach, and violations of university policies relating to informing the head coach.

UI athletic director Mike Bohn wouldn’t detail what, if any NCAA violations occurred, but said, “If confirmed, that will be addressed in the near future.”

Eiguren said 92 players and 10 coaches were in Boise for the Humanitarian Bowl. Because the end of the game marked the start of Christmas break, many left with family members after the game.

Every coach and many of the players were interviewed as part of the university’s investigation into the incident.

Of the players and coaches who spent that night at the Doubletree Downtowner, the team’s headquarters hotel in Boise, Eiguren said all but the seven had checked back in at the hotel by 1 a.m.

This sidebar appeared with the story: AT A GLANCE UI FIGHT AFTERMATH Dionicio Monarrez Jr., an assistant football coach at the University of Idaho, will be fired, but will not face criminal charges. Two students are charged in the drunken brawl.