An assistant football coach at Northwest High School in Clarksville, Tenn., was removed from last weekend’s game after initiating a team prayer.
According to Clarksville Now, Trey Campbell held a bible as he asked players to gather around him to pray. At that time, Northwest principal Brandi Blackley asked Campbell to put the bible away. When Campbell refused to comply with Blackley’s request, he was escorted out of the game, but no TSSAA officials were involved in the ejection, so Campbell will be allowed to return to future games.
“I stood by my faith because that’s what I told my boys they needed to do,” said Campbell. “I told them I love them, but this was just the beginning of their journey with Christ, and that this is what it looks like when you are doing right by the Lord: The enemy does whatever he can to draw you from the Lord.”
Over the weekend, the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System announced that it would be investigating the matter further. Schools spokesperson Anthony Johnson said the school employee “proselytizing” while in an official capacity prompted the investigation.
Students, parents and alumni of Northwest High School weighed in on Clarksville Now’s Facebook post with a range of reactions. While some couldn’t fathom the image of a coach holding a bible on the sidelines, others did not see an issue with Campbell’s actions and recalled many team prayers from their own days on the field.
