Ex-Miramar coach Strout faked transcript, Ohio State says

The Ohio State University transcript Matt Strout added to his personnel file after being named Miramar High School’s football coach last year is not an authentic document, the university’s registrar told the Sun Sentinel on Monday. Strout, whose wide-ranging allegations prompted Broward County Public Schools to investigate Miramar High and its football program, supplied the district with a phony transcript showing a Matthew Lee Rodgers-Strout attended classes at Ohio State from spring 1997 through winter 1999 and graduated on Dec. 12, 1999, with a bachelor’s degree in business management. Brad Myers, Ohio State’s registrar and executive director of enrollment services, on Monday said Strout’s “transcript” contains “some obvious discrepancies, and there are many that can easily be discerned without any research.” The phony document is the latest revelation related to Strout’s personnel records on file with Miramar High and the school district. The Sun Sentinel reported Friday, following an extensive background check, that Strout falsified significant portions of the resume he used to apply for Miramar’s head coach job. Strout claimed in his resume to have earned two bachelor’s degrees, from Ohio State and University of Kentucky, and a master’s degree from Rutgers. Officials from each registrar’s office confirmed Strout did not attend or graduate from the universities. “What probably happened is that everyone just assumed the resume was correct,” Broward Schools Athletics and Activities Director Damian Huttenhoff said Monday. “The ultimate responsibility is the principal at the school, in this case Brian Faso, and under him the athletic director, Damon Cogdell, who was also the head football coach. The hiring of a head coach is normally done in concert between the AD and the principal.” Strout’s attorney, Charles Eiss, on Monday declined to comment on the matter. While the transcript Strout submitted to the district contains many disparaties compared to authentic Ohio State documents, a sampling of the more obvious differences includes: – Strout’s transcript shows the seal of the state of Ohio rather than the Ohio State University seal. – Ohio State does not award a “bachelor of arts in business management.” – The address for the Ohio State registrar’s office is incorrect. – On the transcript key, Ohio State is described as a “private institution.” Ohio State is a public institution. “If this had been an OSU student, we would take some action against him, particularly regarding future transcripts,” Myers told the Sun Sentinel…

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