LAWTON, Okla. (KFOR) – An El Reno mother said she wants to see a Clinton football coach fired Monday after a video surfaced of the coach chasing after and grabbing her son during a fight between the two teams.
It all started in the middle of a scrimmage between El Reno and Clinton when things got heated after a play. El Reno’s head coach said it seemed like everything simmered down, but it only got worse.
The video of the incident can be viewed below.
“I was highly upset,” said Kim Sparks, the mother of the kid who was grabbed by the Clinton coach. “Seeing a grown man basically assault my son.”
Sparks said she is still beside herself after her son was grabbed on Friday night. The Clinton coach is seen in the video chasing after number 17 as he is walking away. He then appears to grab him by the shoulder pads and push him back, starting a brawl on the field.
“I was a little mad,” Sparks said.
“If everybody just would have walked away it would have never happened,” said El Reno head football coach Chuck Atchison.
Atchison said it started off as nothing out of the ordinary. Things got heated when an El Reno player felt he got his helmet ripped off after a play and threw the ball. The referee threw an unsportsmanlike flag on that player.
“Everything got broke up. Really wasn’t a big deal, you deal with those types of things all the time,” Atchison said. “Everything was pretty much over and everybody was kind of walking away.”
However, it wasn’t over.
The coach ran at the El Reno player. The fight eventually moved toward the sideline. Someone even threw a helmet.
Atchison said he didn’t initially see the coach grab his player. He was in the middle of the field clearing up what happened shortly before.
“I’m just glad I didn’t really know until afterward because I think I would have reacted a little bit different,” Atchison said.
Clinton Public Schools sent a statement that can be read in full below.
“There is nothing more important to Clinton Public Schools than the safety of all students. The assistant coach involved has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcoming of a joint investigation between Clinton Public Schools and El Reno Public Schools. Because this is a personnel issue, I am unable to share additional information about this situation. It is a matter we are taking very seriously.”
Clinton Public Schools Supt. Tyler Bridges
“Now that I look back and see the video, I understand why our kids went to his defense,” Atchison said. “Hopefully we can just put it behind us and learn from it.”
“I think he needs to be fired and should not be allowed to teach or coach other kids,” Sparks said.
Sparks said her son wasn’t hurt and has put it behind him now.
El Reno and Clinton have begun a joint investigation into the situation.
