A Bay Area coach is under fire after a video surfaced showing high school football players participating in potentially dangerous and illegal drills.
The head coach of the El Cerrito High School football team has been placed on leave by West Contra Costa County Unified School District following a major outcry on social media, KGO-TV reported.
The video, reportedly taken in 2019, shows students repeatedly tackling one player in groups of two, sending him crashing to the ground. It has garnered over two million views on Twitter, prompting responses from prominent NFL players, coaches and sports analysts expressing concern for the players' safety.
"This is so far out of line, it's horrible," former NFL coach Jim Mora tweeted. "Who can ever justify this? If a coach teaches this, he isn’t someone you should ever allow your kid around. This is horrible."
WCCUSD released a statement collected by the news station condemning the dangerous drills. "This behavior is unacceptable and inconsistent with WCCUSD's values," spokesperson Raechelle Forrest said. "The safety of our students and staff are our top priority and we take these matters very seriously. The district is currently conducting a full investigation, and we will take the appropriate steps pending the investigation's results."
A source told KNTV that the head coach was not at practice at the time the video was taken, and that the assistant coach who ran the practice was fired shortly after.
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