The Oklahoma youth baseball coach, Michael Ryals, who has recently been banned for life, is once again making headlines after fresh details from his background check surfaced online. This sparked widespread discussion across the baseball community, with fans sharing their shocked reactions on the internet.
On May 24, 2026, during the Memorial Day weekend tournament in Kansas City, the game of an 11-and-under showdown between the Oklahoma Eleven and the Nebraska Prime Nationals took place. During the final inning of this match, Ryals allegedly asked his son to throw a high-speed ball directly into the Nebraska dugout.
Following this incident, a thorough investigation took place that led to the decision to ban the coach for life and his 12-year-old son for five years. Days after this unfortunate incident, the Oklahoma youth baseball coach admitted he bypassed mandatory background checks because he knew he would fail them due to an extensive criminal history. In a conversation with USA Today Sports, he said:
“I knew that I couldn’t pass.”
In 2011, he was reportedly arrested for indecent behavior with a child, who at that time was 14. He received a one-year suspended sentence and five weekends of incarceration for this action. Talking to USA Today Sports, Ryals said:
“I’m not a child molester. I never did that.”
This revelation quickly made rounds all over the internet and drew attention from the baseball fans. One of the users on Reddit wrote:
“It’s so sad on many different levels that this guy was permitted to coach youth sports.”
Slamming Ryals for his criminal record, one of the followers wrote:
“You know it’s bad when the larceny and embezzlement convictions are the least problematic parts of his rap sheet.”
Taking a dig at both Ryals and the organization that allowed him, one of the fans commented:
“Yeah this whole article makes both him and the organization that banned him look terrible. He’s scum for sure, but they’re responsible for allowing him to coach AND lying about their ties to SafeSport.”
Along similar lines, another user on Reddit wrote:
“Things can’t be great if you find yourself saying “I’m not a child molester”
The Oklahoma youth baseball coach, Michael Ryals, weighed in on his and his son’s ban
After he received a lifetime ban and his 12-year-old son received a five-year ban, the Oklahoma youth baseball coach made his feelings known about the whole incident during his conversation with USA Today Sports over the phone. Sharing his perspective on the matter, he said that his son reached a breaking point and was just being a kid.
“Man, I don’t want to be seen as the bad guy. I don’t want to be hated. I don’t want my kid to be hated. Just kids being ruthless kids. I don’t think any kid should be in trouble for what they said, but he reached his breaking point. He told me he was going to throw the ball in between innings and I said, ‘There’s consequences for it. You should really think that through, but there is consequences for it,’” said Oklahoma youth baseball coach.
He added:
“If they want to put the blame on me, I’ve let it ride on my shoulders. I’m his dad. I’m a grown man. I’m not going to answer that question because I don’t want people thinking he’s any worse than he is.”
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