The entire football staff at Hamilton High School in Memphis, Tenn. — nine coaches in all — was fired prior to Friday night's game, reportedly because of an on-field incident that occurred the previous week.
As reported by Memphis CBS affiliate WREG, Jerel Blanchard was the head coach fired along with eight others in the days following the incident during a game between Hamilton and Sheffield.
“My athletic director at the time was going through something or whatever, came into the game upset Friday, he wanted to pull certain kids” because of questions about eligibility, said Blanchard, who could not attend Friday’s game.
Blanchard claims he tried to calm Burchett, as reported by WREG's Brian Didlake. “He was kinda already upset, we asked security to remove him,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard says the encounter on the field centered on the athletic director, Alfred Burchett, who claimed a player was ineligible to play.
That on-the-field episode ended with Hamilton forfeiting the game to Sheffield. A few days later, the school district fired the coaches — and kept the athletic director.
“I wasn’t given any paperwork, I wasn’t even given a courtesy call from the principal saying, ‘Coach Blanchard we are going to have to let you go due to this, this and that,'” Blanchard said.
The personnel matter is the latest in a bizarre string of events dating back to June, when the staff was initially dismissed, only to be rehired in August. It's unclear what caused those events. And the fired coaches still want answers regarding any lack of investigation or notice of their latest termination.
“We’ve been coaching on pins and needles since June. We were fired in June,” Beckett said.
Attempts by WREG to obtain comment from Memphis-Shelby County Schools were not successful as of Saturday.
“I’m here for my boys. It hurt. Like I done shed tears, real tears over this,” said former Hamilton assistant coach Marlon Beckett on Friday. “I had to beg several players out there right now to play today.”
