Alabama High School Football Coaches Resign After Disturbing Practice Videos Revealed
coolstanley
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A pair of Alabama high school football coaches have stepped down from their jobs after videos of team staffers behaving inappropriately with players began circulating online.
The head coach and defensive coordinator of Hoover High School resigned this week, the school district announced during a Thursday board meeting, according to WBRC.
Drew Gilmer, the head coach, and Adam Helms were initially placed on leave on Tuesday after disturbing practice footage surfaced on social media, with one video showing a coach ripping the helmet off of a player before another coach thrusted his hips in the player’s face.
A second shocking video shows a coach charging at a player before ripping off another high schooler’s helmet and throwing it, causing him to fall to the ground:
The Hoover City School System has not publicly confirmed the identities of the coaches seen in the video, though the superintendent acknowledged the incidents in a statement to the outlet: “The past few days have been extremely unsettling for many of our varsity football players, coaches, and the overall Hoover Community. The safety and well-being of our students and staff continue to be our top priorities.”
We maintain high expectations for our employees and students. At this time, our focus is dedicated to supporting our football players and coaching staff.
Alabama State Rep. Juandalyn Givan (D) is an attorney representing the family of one of the students seen in the videos and identified Gilmer as one of the coaches who committed the inappropriate acts.
“We are here as legal counsel for a family whose 17-year-old child has been subjected to an experience no child should ever go through, regardless of if it’s on the field of play,” Givan told reporters at a press conference this week.
The lawmaker continued:
As you know, a video has gone viral depicting acts by the Hoover High School head football coach Drew Gilmer. The acts committed by Gilmer are pervasive, perverted, abusive, extreme, outrageous, and beyond all possible bounds of human decency from someone who is deemed or defined as an educator in the public school system in the state of Alabama.
She went on to say that the family of the teen is prepared to “pursue every legal avenue” and that “this has nothing to do with [Gilmer] being a good coach.”
Rather, “it has everything to do with what was depicted on the video, in an instance, that left pause and concern… not just in Alabama, but throughout the sports industry as a whole,” Givan told reporters.
“We’ve seen and we know the levels of contact coaches have, but in an instance that a coach takes a player’s head, a child, grabs it and pulls it to his private area, something is wrong with that,” she added. “That goes beyond a level of just the regular whatever.”
The Hoover Police Department said the Special Victims Unit has opened an investigation into the matter.\
Givan also said that the student she is representing was just 16 at the time of the video.
“Outstanding young man. He’s clear on what he wants his future to be. He is dealing with a situation that has him emotionally distraught,” another attorney, Reginald McDaniel, said at the press conference. “As you can imagine, the attention this is getting is having a major impact on his emotional state and mind. At this point, he’s becoming withdrawn. He has been humiliated.”
“Imagine your 16-year-old kid being subjected to that kind of humiliation by a grown man who is supposed to be in a position of trust. His state of mind right now is not well. He’s probably going to need counseling,” McDaniel continued. “He’s looking into that. We ask that the public understand what this kid is going through and pray for him that he will be able to get over this. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
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Thats a really long post for something high school. Are you hoping to equate that to Alabama football at the collegiate level?
Missouri 14 OSU 3
Are you ok?
Did you watch the video?
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
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White Head Coach and players of color...........................
The grainy video I saw was a player on the ground after a play, and a coach rushed over to him, and forcefully removed his helmet.
My quick guess for the reason, and of course there is no excusable reason, is the kid likely botched the play and the coach had a hissy fit and/or the kid wasn't using his chin strap and the coach wanted to teach him some sort of lesson.
My high school football coach did it the old fashioned way, which is probably the way it's still done - extra wind-sprints after practice. One time during summer football practice, the coach got so hissed off, he made us do wind-sprints in the middle of practice. LOL
After Woody punched the Clemson player in the head, did he resign or get fired?
I recall an incident at my 7th grade football practice. It was the first organized football I had ever played and likely the same for every other student out there. I had played tackle football with friends, no pads or anything, just horsing around at a local field from 4th to 6th grade, so I had a rudimentary understanding of the game, and the violent nature of it. But some of the kids at that practice obviously didn't understand, and they really shouldn't have been out there.
So it's about the second or third day of practice, and this one kid shouldn't have been out there. I forget exactly how this transpired, but one of the assistant coaches wanted to display a blocking technique. He quickly chose that kid for the example. Well the kid stood there in a defensive position and this coach, big strong guy against a small 7th grade kid, runs full speed into the kid and of course knocks the kid off his feet. I wasn't sure if the kid was going to get up or not? It made me sick to my stomach to watch it. The kid quit either right after that or after practice, I can't recall which.
Nobody reported it, and that assistant coach did coach the entire season. He never did anything like that again, but never coached again after that season. Not sure if that decision was voluntary or not? Or maybe somebody reported that after the season or not? That coach did continue as a teacher at the school.
What's funny is that kid who got knocked down, went on to become the senior class president. Very likeable, friendly sort of guy, highly intelligent.
the only thing dumber than taking college sports seriously is taking high school sports seriously
the entire south seems to be afflicted
Huh? So you would let your son be abused like this? How classy of you.
Terry Bradshaw was AMAZING!!
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my kid would be smoking weed under the bleachers laughing at those football simps
Brings back some not so fond post-practice memories of my own Steve. Our coach Mr Walker would take it a step past the gassers if he wasn't happy with how practice played out. We had a very large lake adjacent to our school (Lake Emerald) that the cross-country teams and track teams used for practice and this lake was HUGE! Coach Walker would point to the exit gate and order laps around this monstrosity until he was satisfied. This was after the 2nd of 2 a days in the sweltering August sun. Our practices always began around August 15th a couple weeks before the school year began. Brutal.
Without high school and college sports there are no professional sports
Not to mention college sports are a multi billion dollar industry. While Im not sure why this story was deemed newsworthy other than maybe trying to take a shot at the south, there are high schools out there paying players and recruiting nation wide operating like a college
Missouri 14 OSU 3
I watch pro sports but I can't state that my life is better because of it
we should shut it all down and see
I'm all for High School football being regimented,it can teach discipline and give kids some pride but the second it gets to the hazing level or moronic level anything it should be shut right down, Football at the high school level is not Paris Island.
The Sexual innuendo stuff should be met with being banned for life, it's disgustingly unnecessary and stupid on every level
@Bullsitter said: After Woody punched the Clemson player in the head, did he resign or get fired?
He was offered the opportunity to resign but refused, so he was fired the next day and rightfully so. Like so many other Coaches, players, athletes of all kinds, celebrities and politicians, Woody Hayes allowed one event to be the defining moment of his life. In reality, he had probably overstayed his time and should have retired years prior to the Clemson game. If he had, the way he's viewed today would be starkly different.
@stevek said: The grainy video I saw was a player on the ground after a play, and a coach rushed over to him, and forcefully removed his helmet.
I sure don't know what "grainy video" you were watching, the one I followed the link to showed the following: one coach pull off the helmet of a player on the ground, then the second coach grabbed the players jersey/shoulder pads and pumped his genitals in the players face.
I'm pretty open-minded, I guess you'd call me liberal, but that's over the top in most places.
So, it was inappropriate perverted behavior being imposed by males onto another male.
To make a sweeping statement about "gay stuff and football" over physical abuse being imposed by messed up people is pretty messed up.
Gobble.
I can sure relate to that. I'll tell ya the most painful experience of my life, and I even once passed a kidney stone. Which was 8mm x 14mm, that the urologist basically stated it would never pass without surgery. No worries, no long story coming about that. 😆
The most painful. Who knows what was the reason for his anger, the high school coach with his usual hissed off mood, just a question of how much. So after practice he says line up for wind-sprints or words to that affect. The tone of his voice indicated it would be more than usual. First wind sprint, I get a "stitch" in my right side, the kidney area and normally ya sit down after ya get one of those. Well sorry to say, I didn't have the courage to tell the coach I can't do any more, or just go to the sideline and lay down. So I continued to run the wind-sprints with this ultra-painful stitch that kept getting worse after each sprint. I can't recall the number we ran, but it was sheer agony.
Finally it was over, and of course everyone walked to the locker room, except for me. I didn't pass out, but I just laid flat on my back for at least an hour, all alone out there on the field. Didn't think I was gonna die, but then again, I considered that possibility. All because I was afraid of the dam football coach. What a stupid way to die that would have been. 🤔
I didn't initially see the link on the OP's post. The story looked long so i just googled, alabama helmet. Only one story about this popped up on the news, it was from the New York Post, and the video on there was grainy.
Sorry if I didn't meet your elite high standards for posting. You're not going to make me run wind-sprints now are you? 🤣
No wind sprints, @stevek, and I won't get into a pissing contest with you either. It's really clear that everyone here likes you more than they like me, it's just that in the whole scheme of things that doesn't really mean anything.
Have a nice day.
You seem to be having quite a day. Attack!!!
I'm well aware of my growing popularity. Last year in the voting for Sports Talk Poster of the Year, I cracked the top 1,000 for the first time.
My dream is to some day break into the top 100. That would really be something.
I'm okay with the grabbing of the helmet (it happened to me once or twice in the late '80s). But ripping the helmet off and the pelvic thrusts - there is something wrong with that guy.
The other part of this that is disturbing is that our society is too quick to call a lawyer. They were placed on leave and most likely to be fired (and probably won't be able to get a job elsewhere) and that will be punishment enough in my book.
I remember back in 1985 as a Sophomore playing football, the Locker room was a thunder dome rat tails with the towels that would break skin when snapped at you
We had a massive shower area, after practice you best wait until the seniors were done otherwise you were getting intimated on and beat up while the coaches were laughing their rear ends off.
Times have changed lol
Why do you always insinuate that your not liked?
A difference of viewpoints is nothing personal lol
If you have to ask, you know the answer.
you had to wet the end and if you got the tip to break the sound barrier it would make a good welt