Head Coach Speaks Out After Losing Job From Series of Lies

I was happy when my charges were dismissed because they were completely made up, and I passed every other test that was put before me during last summer and fall. The only noticeable change to my life has been that I was no longer the Head Football Coach at Edgewood. That was crushing!

My whole life had been improved by my association with the game of football and I had taken this game about as far as you can take it. From growing up in the same house as my uncle and watching him become an All-American as a young boy, to playing and eventually coaching for the great Lowell Klinefelter at Canton Central Catholic High School, to playing collegiately at West Liberty, coaching in professional football, and becoming a Head Coach at the age of 24.

I had learned many great lessons in my life because of this game, and I was a better person because I had played, as my college coach Bob Eaton would say, “The greatest game anybody has ever thought of”. All of the great lessons I had learned, things I had been a part of, and camaraderie that comes from being around football was over with, based off of a lie.

My dismissal last August and the conclusion of every other investigation that was immediately triggered by being charged with a very serious crime was only the beginning of the struggles I have faced. I poured myself into research of similar situations and I found two parallel situations that had taken place right here in Northeastern Ohio, and I watched those cases and their outcomes very intently.

I was miffed as these two other coaches were immediately welcomed back and I wished that had been the outcome of my situation, but please make no mistake about it, I HAVE NO HARD FEELINGS TOWARDS THOSE TWO. I wanted what years of preparation, sacrifice, and just plain hard work had afforded me, to still be afforded to me.

As I re-entered the job search, I was presented with some opportunities to interview for jobs in coaching, and that is still a goal for me. As I have taken part in these different interviews or discussions regarding vacancies, I have been close, I have gotten jobs, and I have been turned away all of these non-hiring outcomes have the same source of information: a simple Google Search has become my undoing many times.

If you would search my name right now, the first return would an article from the Star Beacon, surrounding my arrest. It is the first search return and from what I am learning about how information is shared and stored, this search return also includes a sub-article that was my dismissal article.

CONCLUSION ON PAGE THREE