A South Carolina high school football coach accused of illegally recruiting opposing players has apparently been caught red handed thanks to his text messages.

As reported by Columbia, S.C.’s The State newspaper, Blythewood (S.C.) High School football coach Jason Seidel stands accused of violating South Carolina’s no-recruiting policies, and now text messages retrieved from at least two of the players he was trying to recruit appear to confirm that he made a serious effort to lure them to Blythewood.

While none of the players who were allegedly recruited by Seidel matriculated to Blythewood, it could be that lack of recruiting success that actually saves Seidel; because none of the players moved to Blythewood, the school felt emboldened to punish the coach as it saw fit, without announcing what that punishment was.

That despite a text message from the coach reportedly telling one player “You and your mom can’t say we met,” and asked another to delete their entire conversation.

If that sounds like guilty behavior, well, maybe it is. And whether or not it was successful perhaps shouldn’t really count. The point is that Seidel as well on his way to subverting state laws when he was caught reaching out to players from Ridge View High School. What impact that has on his future remains to be seen. It’s certainly not going to help.