A Washington high school coach has been placed on administrative leave with pay after multiple players have accused him of exposing himself at a pre-season off-campus retreat.
As detailed by the Spokesman-Review, in late August Ferris High School (WA) coach Jim Sharkey took his Saxons team on an annual trip to a 1,000-acre ranch in Idaho when, according to one player, Sharkey, while grilling hot dogs, turned and said, "You think that dog is big -- take a look at this," revealing his exposed penis inside a hot dog bun. Sharkey also admitted that multiple adults, while not affiliated with the Ferris football program, consumed alcohol while in the presence of the players.
The incident was investigated by the Ferris High School principal and a Spokane school district official in September, but Sharkey was allowed to coach the season, calling the allegations "a complete lie" and "absolutely false."
However, more players came forward in the months since, with the Spokesman-Review noting the school district possesses "multiple versions of the same quote." In a second meeting with a district official, Sharkey also admitted calling one student a "dipshit" and a female student a "puck slut" or "puck bunny." The district also brought to Sharkey's attention a ritual called "juicing," in which a group of players gang up to force their fingers inside his anus to mark the player's birthday -- a practice Sharkey said he was completely unaware of and would have stopped if he had knowledge of it. "I would not allow this. No way," Sharkey said, according to notes of the meeting. "You better have dates and times of the juicing – if you say 10-15 times – you just better be able to tell me exactly when, who."
As a result, Sharkey was suspended and now Ferris has an ethical dilemma on its hands.
Either multiple players and parents have colluded against their coach to smear his reputation and/or force him out of a job he's held for 11 years, or the school is employing a head football coach who exposed himself to his players and has repeatedly lied to his employer about it.
There doesn't appear to be a gray area between those two extremes, and the district will have to pick one side or the other.