A North Carolina high school football coach was asked to turn in his resignation before his first game on the job.
Bradford Prep head coach Adam Webber resigned last week, days before the club's first game against Thomas Jefferson Classical. According to the Charlotte Observer, Webber was asked to resign after making a joke on a local podcast about a player that the player's family took as threatening.
“It was a joke taken out of context, for sure,” Webber told the paper. “The school didn’t notify me 100 percent on why (they were asking me to resign), but they had just got a report. I still don’t know 100 percent of why... I sent my apologies. And I totally understand how they feel. But it was taken out of context.”
Not only was this to be Webber's first season as Bradford Prep's head coach, it was the public charter school's first football game -- period. The Bears completed the weather-shortened game on Monday, falling 32-22 to Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy.
Bradford Prep is a Class 2A school located in the Charlotte suburbs. The school did not comment on Webber's resignation, calling it a personnel matter.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Webber said “I’m a little confused and devastated. I know God gives His strongest battles to His toughest soldiers.”
Defensive coordinator Jeremy Chandler was promoted to interim head coach for the remainder of the program's inaugural season. Webber, 30 years old and previously the defensive coordinator at Charlotte's Independence High School, told the Observer he plans to coach again. "I think I can learn from this, most definitely," he said.