Texas football coach who allegedly ordered referee hit out of job
AUSTIN, Texas -- A Texas school administrator says an assistant football coach who allegedly ordered players to strike a referee during a game no longer works for the district.
The principal and head football coach at John Jay High School told state officials Thursday they believe assistant Mack Breed told players to retaliate against an official in the closing minutes of a game earlier this month.
John Jay players told their coaches earlier in the game that referees had been directing racial slurs at them.
Robert Watts, the referee who was struck by the players, has denied those allegations.
An attorney for Watts also told a state governing board Thursday that his client didn't tell the players to "speak English, this is America."
Watts didn't attend the fact-finding hearing in Austin. Jay Downs, his attorney, handed the board copies of family photos that show Watts at his wedding with his best man, who is black, and another of Watts' grandmother, who is from Mexico.
Watts said in a written statement he has post-concussion syndrome. He said one John Jay player who struck him told him, "You're in the way" and laughed.
Brian Woods, the school superintendent, didn't specify whether the assistant coach had been fired or resigned. The players who struck the referee have been suspended to an alternative school.
Jesse Hernandez, a lawyer for the boys, said Wednesday that the two were paying for their actions and trying to move forward.
"The boys' focus here was on accepting responsibility for their actions," Hernandez said, according to CBS affiliate KENS. "They're not the type of kids to do something like this. They admitted it was something a coach directed them to do."