Coaches charged in wild on-field youth football brawl appear in court

Three youth football coaches from Carlynton and Keystone Oaks were due in court Thursday after they were caught on camera fighting on the field during a youth football game last month. 

The video drew national attention, and prosecutors filed charges against all three men. Dequay Canton, a coach for the Carlynton football team, was charged with a misdemeanor in the third degree and a summary harassment charge. 

Joseph Kubiak and Frank McGrath, coaches for the Keystone Oaks, were each charged with a summary disorderly conduct citation. Their attorney, Casey White, worked out a deal with Judge Jack Kobistek, who agreed to dismiss their summary charge if they complete two online coaching courses by Nov. 19.

The judge said the courses are through the National Federation of State High School Associations and are called Teaching and Modeling Behavior and the Fundamentals of Coaching. The combined courses total 15 hours of work and cost around $55.

Kobistek said the courses are highly recommended by the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League and Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association and said he felt they were appropriate for the situation that happened.

Kobistek went on to acknowledge that the incident was an "ugly situation" and not the coaches' best days. He said the courses will give Kubiak and McGrath skills moving forward.

"Once they get that done, present the certificate to the judge, the case will be dismissed, and we'll expunge these summary charges," White said.

White said he's hopeful that his clients will be back on the field coaching as soon as this weekend.

"They're going to approach their board today, and hopefully they can coach by the weekend because, obviously, seeing the forest through the trees, this case will be dismissed. Both the coaches are very proactive, and they want to get this done," White said. "Quite frankly, they said they would get done tonight if they could and have this case dismissed tomorrow. But we have to wait about 10 days to do so. So, I'm optimistic they'll hopefully be on the sidelines, if not this weekend, sometime soon."

White said both Kubiak and McGrath are ready to move forward and want this incident behind them.

"They certainly wish this all didn't happen. But quite frankly, my clients weren't the aggressors. Both of them were trying to defuse the situation. The other coach from Carlynton certainly escalated the situation. He started the situation," White said.

Canton waived his charges to court in Downtown Pittsburgh. As he walked out of court Thursday, he nodded his head "no" when asked if he started the fight on the field. His attorney, Bart Wischnowski, had no comment before or after the preliminary hearing.

Canton told KDKA-TV just days after the incident that his players were being called racial slurs by players on the other team, which is what led to the incident in the first place.

"My clients have said they did not hear any racial slurs hurled on the field by players or coaches, and it's my understanding that the referees were interviewed by the league, and no racial slurs were heard by the referees," White said.

Canton is out on a non-monetary bond under the agreement that he will not coach any children while his case is open. His formal arraignment is scheduled for Nov. 25 at 2 p.m.