Did the Truth Even Matter? The Real Bellevue Football Story

Sometimes you win a football game with a Hail Mary pass, and sometimes you chip away a few yards at a time.

If Pat Jones’ life was a football game, the last five years he’s been chipping away slow and steady, one down at a time. The football coach’s latest play? A series of three books describing the storied history of the Bellevue High School Football program, and the investigations that surrounded the team from 2006 to 2018.

Jones began coaching at Bellevue High School in 1982 and along with head coach Butch Goncharoff they collectively led the 12-time state champions to 11 state championships in 15 years, plus a national championship in 2012. In Part One of the three-part series called Did the Truth Even Matter Jones describes big moments from the team’s powerhouse years.

“The national news upset of De La Salle that ended their 151 game winning streak, the upset of Long Beach Poly, a national championship in 2012 and the success that ultimately spearheaded various investigations into the program over the years,” Jones writes on the book’s website, didthetruthevenmatter.com.

Book One concludes by addressing the 2015 ‘Diploma Mill’ allegations published in local media, and Jones shares research and inside information he’s compiled over the last five years — which is very much at odds with what was printed in newpapers at the time, he says.

“Take a read now and, by the end of the story, see if you don’t agree with me,” Jones writes in his ‘Message to my players’ on the book’s website.

Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due every day

Jones writes in his ‘Message to my players’ that a quote from J. J. Watt has resonated deeply with his experiences at Bellevue Football: “Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and rent is due every day.”

“Our program understood that success is not a given and that we are not entitled to anything. Our program knew we had to earn it,” writes Jones. “Our program was willing to pay the “rent” every day and while there are many who have decided that we took short cuts or bent/broke the rules, they were not there. They were not with us when we paid the rent every day. They would rather explain away our program’s magical success over the years by stating that we cheated — because the newspaper and two former federal prosecutors said so.”

Pat Jones is currently a football coach at Kennedy Catholic High School, and continues to serve as President of the Bellevue Coaches Association union. Did the Truth Even Matter is available now on Amazon as both a print book and an ebook. You can also link to the book from Coach Jones’ website, didthetruthevenmatter.com.