Following the resignation of McKeesport (Pa.) High School’s head football coach Matt Miller and the termination of several assistant coaches, including Nick LoNigro, LoNigro filed a complaint against the school with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging he was fired due to his religious affiliation.
According to CBS News, LoNigro is a member of the Church of Life in Christ, the same church that Miller and several of the assistant coaches all attend. It was also the church of recently convicted murderer, Isaac Smith, a McKeesport alum and former football player.
Related: Community Uproar Over Football Coach’s Murder Trial Testimony Leads to Resignation
According to WTAE, Smith was accused of murdering a pregnant woman in 2021, claiming he worried his long term girlfriend would discover the other woman’s pregnancy. Smith was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for the crime, but Miller and a few assistant coaches testified as character witnesses for Smith throughout the trial.
After school board members pushed for Miller’s resignation in June and moved to terminate the assistant coaches, one school board member, David Donato, objected to the terminations. He agreed the dismissals appeared to be on religious grounds.
Neither Miller nor the other assistant coaches have filed complaints at this point.
