McKinley High School football head coach Marcus Wattley, seven assistant coaches suspended

Just for clarification here.

The kid in question was late to practice (voluntary or mandatory doesn't matter, he was late to a team event correct?)?
Coaching staff made an example out of him by having the rest of the team run while he ate (forced? or voluntary?) pizza that had toppings on it that were against his religion?

Just trying to piece it all together here is all.

I dunno fellas, I've been in coaching / athletic admin for now 17 years officially and if that scenario above is correct then my first question to my HFC behind closed doors would be "TF man!??!!?!"
 
scbuckeye99 said:
Just for clarification here.

The kid in question was late to practice (voluntary or mandatory doesn't matter, he was late to a team event correct?)?
Coaching staff made an example out of him by having the rest of the team run while he ate (forced? or voluntary?) pizza that had toppings on it that were against his religion?

Just trying to piece it all together here is all.

I dunno fellas, I've been in coaching / athletic admin for now 17 years officially and if that scenario above is correct then my first question to my HFC behind closed doors would be "TF man!??!!?!"
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For clarification, the kid had "missed" a workout. It doesn't appear as though he was late.

It was reported that his "teammates would be forced to perform additional drills" if he refused to eat the pizza. I don't think they were running while he ate.

This is from The Repository -

If the player refused to eat the pizza, he was told that his teammates would be forced to perform additional drills and "there was a question of whether he would be able to stay on the team," Gilbert said. The attorney said the player missed the May 20 voluntary workout to nurse a slight shoulder injury he received during a previous practice.
 
Pretty much scbuck. Couldn't just make him run, do grass drills or pushups. For whatever reason coach chose personal humiliation. (Aside from any religious objection).
 
Raymo said:
Hall is head coach,OC is back with one other coach not mentioned,so he's looking for at least five or six to join his staff.I can think of a few but like you said,it's going to be interesting to see who joins his staff.
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Half a day later after getting a few calls I'm good to go with the new group...BAM!...Time to move on!
 
Mackinbiner said:
For clarification, the kid had "missed" a workout. It doesn't appear as though he was late.

It was reported that his "teammates would be forced to perform additional drills" if he refused to eat the pizza. I don't think they were running while he ate.

This is from The Repository -

If the player refused to eat the pizza, he was told that his teammates would be forced to perform additional drills and "there was a question of whether he would be able to stay on the team," Gilbert said. The attorney said the player missed the May 20 voluntary workout to nurse a slight shoulder injury he received during a previous practice.
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gotcha. thank you. sounds bizarre either way and definitely an odd punitive measure IMO.
 
www.espn.com

Coaches fired as player claims he had to eat pork

Four coaches won't have their contracts renewed and another three are ineligible for future positions after a high school football player in Canton, Ohio, said he was forced to eat pork -- which is against his religious beliefs -- after missing a workout.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

ESPN story. Mentions five players showed up in support of Wattley saying he gave the kid the option of chicken nuggets instead. Not that that really makes a difference in the hazing portion, but maybe the religious side of things. Also kind of sounds like one of those fabricated “defense” stories.

Sorry if this was already posted.
 
Crazy story. I'm hearing the kid put himself above the team. He was "the guy" and walked around like it. Felt he didn't have to work like the other kids on team so the coach gave him an option. While all the kids worked their tails off this kid would constantly give half effort. So instead of kicking him off the team which he should've done they told him go ahead & eat while his teammates continued to work hard. I know someone who works in Canton school district and this is what they told me. Kinda crazy
 
DonCalipari said:
Crazy story. I'm hearing the kid put himself above the team. He was "the guy" and walked around like it. Felt he didn't have to work like the other kids on team so the coach gave him an option. While all the kids worked their tails off this kid would constantly give half effort. So instead of kicking him off the team which he should've done they told him go ahead & eat while his teammates continued to work hard. I know someone who works in Canton school district and this is what they told me. Kinda crazy
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If they kicked him off the team for not attending/doing poorly at voluntary workouts, still a major OHSAA violation, which would lead to sanctions and the coaches probably getting fired.
 
Story I heard...
Wattley (did) feed the kids after every workout, because some of those kids- that's all they eat all day. That's why food was there. The kid had other options.
-Also, the other players weren't being punished. The Pizza kid came late, so the kids were already in the middle of conditioning drills... he got called out by the coaches for being late and missing workouts. Pizza kid hadn't eaten that day, so the coaches were going to make him eat something in front of the kids (not smart). Anyhow, he was offered other food, but just took the cheese and pep off the piece of pizza, ate it, then worked out no issues. Worked out two more days.. word is the Asst coach then went to the Board... Board contacted the parents and all hell breaks loose.

Who the hell knows what happened. Truth is prob somewhere in the middle
 
bootleg said:
Furthermore, I am a fan of high school football.
The discussion of the incident, while fair game for these threads, is moving further and further away from high school football. People have lost their employment which is sad when you know there are families involved. It is truly a sad ordeal.
Best case scenario is for it to run its course and be over with so we can get back to talking about what brought us to this thread in the first place.
Enjoy - have fun with it - kick a dog when he is down if you will. I'll be back when its football talk again.
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Badre bardawil was the OC right?
 
bootleg said:
sorry OccFtball but your story is a demonstration of what happened along with bad information. The coaches were put on leave the day after the incident. No one was late. I guess it depends on who you talk too. The players I spoke to had a different version than what the goof ball lawyer was trying to paint.
There is mention of a video, if it involves audio then lots of the rhetoric and twisted stories will be put to rest. Football will be back on track by next week, and the team will be ready. Seems some of the greatest football stories involve some type of adversity which brings a group together stronger. The legal actions forthcoming will be removed from team and just become more media blah blah that kids in high school don't really invest. Hall is the coach for now and McK fans will need to throw their support and attention his way as he will be leading the Bulldogs.
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For clarification, the incident has been reported as having happened on Monday the 24th. Superintendent Talbert was made aware of it that same evening and the investigation began Tuesday but the coaches weren't placed on paid administrative leave until Wednesday the 26th.
 
bootleg said:
Furthermore, I am a fan of high school football.
The discussion of the incident, while fair game for these threads, is moving further and further away from high school football. People have lost their employment which is sad when you know there are families involved. It is truly a sad ordeal.
Best case scenario is for it to run its course and be over with so we can get back to talking about what brought us to this thread in the first place.
Enjoy - have fun with it - kick a dog when he is down if you will. I'll be back when its football talk again.
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I believe the only employment that has been lost is for coaching. Four of the 7 still hold other jobs within the Canton City School District.
 
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Yikes...
 
Throwing out whether one believes this was a major or minor incident, it was just plain stupid of the coaches to do it and/or look on without taking some action to stop it. The eventual result was so damn predictable and foreseeable in today's day and age that even if you set aside the right and wrong issues and whether it violated any established rules, the people involved demonstrated some overwhelmingly bad judgment.

Good luck to the people eventually left to take over this program. The program already had some issues and now you add this mess to the challenges of the job. Even with OE, it will be tough and whoever eventually gets the permanent gig will have to be part politician, part community organizer, part social worker and part public relations pro as well as a good football coach to be successful. I hope they can pull it off.
 
I’m still wondering where these coaches holding him down, tied him to chair, etc. if you are that firm with your religious beliefs, why didn’t this young man stand firm and say no and leave. I do know he must have felt intimidated with these coaches surrounding him and the pressure. Ppl still don’t realize you have to watch anything you say or do in this day and age.
 
OBIE-WON-PIEROGI said:
Just because you disagree with the religion based on their general fanaticism doesn't mean you can say the kid didn't have deeply held religious beliefs. Actually it's probably the opposite.

Are the BHI probably a hate group? Yes.

Does that mean what happened is okay? No.
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Who said what happened was OK?
 
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