What out of the blue he paid for a bus and said, "want to go get baptized?"  No way.  He's been talking about it and trying to convert them.  And when has he been doing this?  Obviously at practice and school.  The act of physically taking them on the bus is not the first step in this process, it's the last.

I know as a parent what I am expecting of my sons' coach is that they are teaching them; whatever sport they are playing, about team work, good sportsmanship, dedication, and responsibility.  That's an awful lot to cover in a practice without adding in their belief in God, they way that they believe in him.  So the outrage here is that some poor southern boys weren't being properly instructed in football!

Seriously though, it was unethical, highly inappropriate, and I have to believe illegal.  From what I read, he lied to the parents to get their permission, and said he was taking them to dinner to see a motivational speaker.