HOUSTON – An Alvin High School football coach resigned Thursday after players said he used the n-word and other racial slurs before a game.
Just hours before last Friday night’s football game, two Alvin High School football players said a coach used derogatory terms they won’t soon forget.
“He was talking about the plays, and how we don’t represent the NFL and that he don’t want anyone taking a knee because he want to be classy,” said player Ronald Broussard.
Both Broussard and Leon Bell, who are Black, said the team was doing a walkthrough on the field when a coach, who is white, brought players together for a talk and used derogatory terms to refer to different races, including the n-word.
“I told him that wasn’t cool and then he told me, ‘Do I want to play?’ I just start walking away. Then he offered me a chicken sandwich,” Bell said.
A spokeswoman for the Alvin Independent School District said the school district has launched an investigation and a staff member has been placed on administrative leave, though the district did not name the employee.
“Alvin ISD does not tolerate the use of divisive language from any staff member, or from any member of our school community,” said Superintendent Carol Nelson in a statement. “Throughout this process, we will work with our families and the community to respond to this matter appropriately and to ensure we collectively support, embrace, and celebrate the diversity of our district.”
The Brazoria County NAACP said it met with the school district administration on Monday.
“We demand that something happens,” said branch president Eugene Howard. “We preferably want this coach’s termination. He’s shown that he cannot lead young men, let alone men and he’s not the example of what Alvin claims to be.”
“They are good boys. They work hard and they go to practice every day and for him to downgrade them like that it’s just horrible,” said April Bell, the players' mother.
She now plans to remove her sons from the school.