r/sportsgossips • u/Hungry_Artichoke9566 • 16h ago
News Oregon Football Coach Fired at HT While Leading 56-0 Over Bizarre Policy
https://www.essentiallysports.com/ncaa-college-football-news-oregon-high-school-footall-coach-fired-after-game-gets-called-off-midway-during-sixty-three-win-marist-catholic-zach-loboy/49
u/Massive-Prior9487 16h ago
That article was tiring to read and I stopped before they told the reason
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u/Good-Rest-7538 15h ago
They kicked an on side kick when it was 56-0. My guess is thst he was a douche and this was the excuse they needed.
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u/varano14 15h ago
Here I thought this was Oregon the college and somehow missed that major event over the weekend…
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u/FSFreakman21 15h ago
An onside kick up 56-0??? Cmon now. I’m all about playing to win but this is bullshit. Coach sounds like an ahole.
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u/Cogswobble 10h ago
Yeah, for real.
If you're just doing running plays with your backups, and you still score, then so be it.
But if you're doing trick plays or onside kicks, then you're just an asshole and you deserve to be fired.
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u/Bulky_Theme_6998 11h ago
I never understand this. You finally get a chance to do it in a game for some good data.
Why wouldn’t you get wonky when up a shit ton?
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u/Zimmonda 10h ago
Because playing against a 16 kid team is objectively not good data, it's 99% chance worse data than doing it against your own scout team.
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u/Bulky_Theme_6998 9h ago
Okay, why don’t NFL coaches ever attempt this then? You see it at all levels.
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u/Crowofsticks 11h ago
This really needs explaining?
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u/Bulky_Theme_6998 10h ago
Not in the slightest because it’s not important.
I’d appreciate an explanation though.
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u/SpacemanSpiff23 10h ago
An onsides kick isn’t that crazy. It’s not worth doing just for stats. It is, however an attempt to re take possession of the ball so that the other chance doesn’t have a chance to play offense.
You do an onsides kick when the game is incredibly close and you’re hoping for a miracle.
If you do it when you’re destroying the other team, it’s kind of like kicking a kid after you knock him to the ground.
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u/Bulky_Theme_6998 9h ago
Yeah, and this is a way to practice this in a live game so your team is ready for an actual close game.
How is that not simply smart coaching? You see this even at the professional level so you can remove the HS portion.
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u/JuanCarlosBusca 4h ago
You don't actually watch the NFL if you think you see this on the pro level lmao
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u/nearlysober 6h ago
Good data? "Hey, turns out we can totally beat up this team that doesn't have enough players to field an offense, defense and special teams!"
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u/Flx_Httr29 15h ago
So he as fired for unnecessarily being a dick towards high school kids. Tbh that seems fair
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u/FlobiusHole 11h ago
Doing an onside kick is ridiculous but other than that what are you supposed to do? They probably could’ve just run basic plays and still dominated. Doing an onside kick up 56-0 is just bizarre though.
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u/Leumas_ 8h ago
It’s a total dick move. Dude is leading children. I would’ve fired his ass too.
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u/Shorts_at_Dinner 6h ago
College players are adults, not children
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u/srush32 4h ago
Sure, but this was at Marist Catholic which is a private high school in Eugene
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u/Shorts_at_Dinner 4h ago
Welp, my bad then. I guess I didn’t even stop to consider such a thing happening on the high school level
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u/Kentuckyfriedmemes66 6h ago
This would be like if the Seahawks fired Pete Carroll or Mike Macdonald after the Superbowls for being to mean to the Broncos or Drake Maye
pretty stupid to fire your coach for completely blowing out teams even if they are just kids
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u/Scodux99 8h ago
If you look up the video, the other team they were beating literally has like 4 players on the sidelines, they barely fielded a team.
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u/mouse_puppy 5h ago
Yeah their team had low participation combined with the flu taking out half the team. People were playing positions they had never practiced before with no rest. Also screw Marist. Played them in high school. Everyone hated the private school (they won state my senior year)
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u/Resident-Yam4911 1h ago
I'd usually be on the coaches side but the other team only had 16 players.
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u/Alergic2Victory 30m ago
What if the onside kick was done to allow the other team to start with better field position.
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u/BuzzClucking 8h ago
Low risk scenario to practice a high risk maneuver with no repurcussions. If it hurts your feelings score some points.
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u/FlobiusHole 7h ago
Poor sportsmanship any way you look at it. It’s a catholic school too, not that that truly means anything, but I don’t think Jesus would’ve run the score up.
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u/BuzzClucking 7h ago
Would Jesus of let them play football and hit each other at all do you think?
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u/FlobiusHole 7h ago
Jesus would have let anyone do anything. I don’t see him coaching any sports team really though.
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u/BrotherTiberius 7h ago
Against a comparable opponent yes, but practicing too far down in terms of competitiveness may be more negative than positive as sloppy play isn’t exposed the way it is by a quality opponent.
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u/nearlysober 6h ago
They'd facer tougher competition and a more real world situation literallly practicing this against their own team.
That's like saying fighting toddlers is good practice for an MMA fight.
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u/SuperSaiyanBen 7h ago
Yea this is actually pretty normal in sports especially at those levels when no one really cares if you bend the rules, it’s just something you usually discuss before hand.
I played Water Polo in highschool and we played plenty of games that eventually devolved into “practice”. We had one game against a team with only 1 sub and by half we were so far up we’d just have a guy swim to our own corner to practice our “Man Down” defense. Anytime we stopped them we’d just chuck a full court(pool) shot to give them the ball back.
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u/Kaizerline 10h ago
“Here’s the thing: The Spartans had dominated a team with just 16 players…”
The other team was playing with 16 players total? I can’t be reading that right.
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u/Plenty-Daikon1121 10h ago
Nope, I'm from the town. It's correct.
Cottage Grove is a smaller town, and the high school has about 600 total kids. Unfortunately they've only had 2 wins across a 5 YEAR span, and it's really impacted local kids desire to join the team. I'm sure this didn't help.
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u/Slight_Rise_6422 9h ago
Yeah my senior year we finished the season with 11 guys actually played a game with 10 and the other team agreed to go down a player. Coach was a hard ass at a rough school to begin with and suspended most of the team/kids quit.
Looking to the sidelines and seeing nothing but coaches is hilarious.
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u/3picks1game 10h ago
My senior year of highschool. Finished season with 15 kids playing 11 man. Still went 5-4. lol.
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u/NoVaBurgher 5h ago
I’m from a different small town in Oregon and we fielded 18 players my senior year. I actually don’t think our school has a football team anymore
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u/MonkeyCobraFight 14h ago
It’s definitely a tacky and classless move. Is it so heinous, you deserve to be fired, no way. If I was a betting man, I’d say this was the excuse they used to get rid of him.
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u/AvonAnon 12h ago
And the coach won a state title in 2024 during his first year as head coach. He will find another coaching job very quickly(and hopefully he’s learned to not run up the score against a team with 16 freakin players).
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u/Certain-Contact6340 12h ago
No, he'll go to a school that doesnt care and enable him. I guarantee it
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u/nearlysober 6h ago
Some people don't want to work with pricks, even if it means success.
This coach sounds like a prick.
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u/downwithOTT_ 15h ago
Fired over “Bizarre” policy?
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u/Aromatic-Action-2523 13h ago
It's "bizarre" when high schools teach and enforce sportsmanship policies, I guess.
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u/TheToxicBreezeYF 11h ago
lol I thought our onside kick vs Kent State up 32-0 was bad but doing it 56-0 takes the cake
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u/kiwipops 11h ago edited 10h ago
I went to a game earlier this year where it was 52 - 0 at half time, I thought they would just have the Marching Band perform and then call the game. But no, I looked up the mercy rule in my state and they just don't stop the clock if the point deficite is greater than 35 points.
By the end of the game it was 83 - 0. The winning team I would say isn't even a great team, they lost 49 - 0 the following week.
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u/BenShelZonah 2m ago
Imagine winning 83-0 then losing 49-0 the next week. These divisions are hilarious
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u/Thefinalsteps 9h ago
Kicking an onside kick with less than 2 minutes left before the half when you are already up 49-0 is an absolutely fuck you decision for no real reason.
Something tells me the school was looking for a reason to fire him.
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u/Other_Secretary2577 9h ago
The other teams coach probably slept with his wife, so he was just trying to compensate.
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u/TheHman__ 14h ago
This stuff is fine in the nfl, don’t run up the score on kids man
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u/mrducci 12h ago
As someone who has coached, I don't buy into this.
We have limited opportunity to play against someone who isn't us. I want to squeeze as much out of that as I can, even when getting bodied, so I can coach from it. Every game offers a distinct opportunity to get better. Even in a thrashing.
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u/Trumps_tossed_salad 11h ago
Squeezing the wrong shit out of your kids.
Playing from the down side. Teach your players to keep their heads up and play hard to the final whistle.
Playing from the up side. Get your second/ third string/ younger players in. Teach humility, instill respect for the game and let them get experience in.
But mainly, teach the principle that you don’t kick three legged dogs.
They had 16 dudes, you are up by 50, you sound like you are trying to live out the glory days all over again. Coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would've been state champions. No doubt.
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u/mrducci 11h ago
Yeah, I'm not saying I would kick the onside, but I wouldn't get upset if I was on the shitry end of this. Throw your best at us and we can learn.
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u/Trumps_tossed_salad 11h ago
The only lesson your 15 boys are learning, is that some men have no character.
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u/mrducci 10h ago
You missed the part where I put myself on the 0 side of this 56 to 0. I wouldn't want anyone to go easy on me. Throw everything you got.
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u/Trumps_tossed_salad 10h ago
In a fair fight on a bad day, sure. They have 15 dudes. This isn’t a learning experience anymore after a point. Like human psychology isn’t built to just get obliterated and come back to the locker room and say what did we learn?! It wasn’t a loss by 10-15 points. It was a throttling. With the kids most likely demoralized and the understanding that they are outgunned. Also an assumption, but I am sure the 15 they have aren’t the 15 most elite athletes they have in that school.
It’s like taking a group of 6th graders and having them play a varsity team and when they get murdered say “hey kids what could we take away from that???” Nothing, we can take nothing away from that because it’s an unproductive learning environment.
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u/mrducci 10h ago
You have to be able to stand up to that adversity and come away with something.
There are a few things to remember here: the coach and the AD have the ability to end the game at any time if they think the kids are at risk. The other thing is, 56 to 0 isn't a terrible loss at the high school level. Especially if you are playing Ironman ball. Shit, fully rostered teams get beat by 10 touchdowns every single Friday in football.
There is always something to learn. There is a way to get better. Not being able to see it is a problem with your perspective, and I would recommend against coaching or leading young men. And again, I say this having coached football, from ages 5 to HS varsity.
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u/BarryTheBystander 8h ago
As someone who played, I can tell you that once you get a certain amount ahead, the other team just stops trying. I get the sentiment but at that point you’re not getting better by playing against a team that’s not trying.
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u/mrducci 7h ago
I am talking about from the down position. You all act like I am saying i would do the same thing that this coach did. What I said was I wouldn't be mad from the down position.
All the difficult shit has been done. You practiced all week. Installed new offense/defense. You got the busses. You got two teams together. You got the refs and the field and the lights. Play fucking ball. If the team that is kicking my ass decides to onside, that is a teaching moment. Down by 8 touchdowns? Man, what works, what doesn't. Can we stay on assignment and play this down and try to be perfect for this play.
Complacency is the killer. Up too much. Down too much. You got to stay in your cleats and be engaged in this play right here. That is a skill that needs to be taught, that sports have taught, and that some people don't have the stomach to be taught.
Winning comes in many flavors, and very little of it has to do with a scoreboard. If you are teaching kids that the scoreboard is the ultimate measure of success, you are teaching them to fail. Period. Point blank.
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u/TouristOpentotravel 15h ago
I'm all for running up the score. But going for an onside kick when up 56-0, yeah, go get fucked.
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u/you_buy_this_shit 14h ago
You're ALL FOR running up the score, but mad he ran up the score?
Do you understand how language works?
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u/dingochowder 14h ago
Do you understand how language works? An onside kick is not a scoring play. There is actually a differnece between running up the score and taking an opportunity away from the opposing team having possession. It's a weird opinion to have in my opinion but technically not wrong with how its stated.
Edit: spelling
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u/NotEeUsername 11h ago
Don’t they only work like 10% of the time though?
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u/Hopeful_Win8267 9h ago
I think at the high school level they tend to work at a higher clip since high school players tend to be less experienced and hands teams aren’t as reliable. Surprise onside kicks are also still allowed at the high school level which increases the likelihood of recovery
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11h ago
[deleted]
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u/_danger_ 10h ago
I get it must suck playing against them, but Carroll and Westlake are perennial powerhouses with many players getting scholarships to D1 schools and coaches want to let the star players get enough playing time to have an opportunity for a big play in front of recruiters. I can see the coach’s obligation to his own players’ futures.
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u/sameasiteverwuzzz 11h ago
My nieces and nephews went there. I can say without hesitation that Southlake is the worst place on the face of the earth. Go listen to the NBC podcast called Southlake. I seriously despise that place.
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u/iHaveShitViewpoints 10h ago
I mean no offense, but thats a weak ass mentality from a sporting perspective. And no im not MAGA.
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u/TwixOps 9h ago
And no im not MAGA.
Then why are you defending republiKKKans (facists)?
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u/Special-Homework-894 9h ago
Because it has nothing to do with high school football and asshole coaches who run the score
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u/TwixOps 9h ago
But if you are defending a "school" that manufacturers future republiKKKans (facists), people might start to think you are as as well
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u/Special-Homework-894 9h ago
So because someone said some school is a “MAGA incubator” it automatically means that “manufacturing” republicans? Riiiiiight.
And the person wasn’t even defending the school. It was talking about the perspective of sports. Literally nothing to do with politics
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u/sameasiteverwuzzz 11h ago
My nieces and nephews went there. I can say without hesitation that Southlake is the worst place on the face of the earth. Go listen to the NBC podcast called Southlake. I seriously despise that place.
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u/Tahoes_Finest 15h ago
High school football is the weirdest thing in the world. 99% of players shouldn’t even be on the field.
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u/wibo58 14h ago
Elaborate
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u/Tahoes_Finest 14h ago
I’m a teacher that goes to games from time to time and 90% of kids just aren’t built for it. I love that they are allowed to pursue whatever suits their interests, but watching an unathletic kid struggle with soccer/baseball just never seems as out of place as it does in football for me. Keep in mind I’m not talking about those 5A powerhouse highlight reel schools.
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u/Personal_Good_5013 8h ago
I mean, I think it’s actually a really character building experience for kids to do things they are bad at, the process of being bad at something, doing things that are really hard for you, and continuing to do it and work at it and improve at it, just for yourself and your team, even if you’ll never be one of the best players, is such an incredible life lesson that translates into so many other areas of life.
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u/Emergency-Hurry947 8h ago
I used to tell myself that, i went from a 120lb freshman to a 220lb DL as a senior, lots of hard work in the weight room. As I got much older i realized I just wasted my time, I should have spend more time studying and would have learned the same lessons trying to improve my grades in the classroom.
Now I think that there are too many mentally ill people in youth sports
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u/HockeyDockey1234 15h ago
If you don’t like losing 0-56, boy life is going to come at you fast.
You’re down 0-56 and metaphorically life kicks an inside kick and hit you with a Hail Mary.
It’s life, losing in sports is a slice of humble pie every kid deserves
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u/ReallyUnlikable 15h ago
It hits a point where it's a waste of time and risk of injury for what? Because they want to win by 100. There's also a rule about deliberately running the score up, and kicking an onside kick up 56 is pretty blatant.
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u/SalamanderFresh9272 15h ago
There are also lessons to learn about showing mercy. Not every fight needs to be a fight to the death.
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u/Straight-Bet1 15h ago
Thanks for informing everyone how terrible a person you are.
You father definitely made deed you this way but you chose to stay the same. Gross.
It’s called “Class.” Get some.
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u/HockeyDockey1234 14h ago
Keep thinking that you’re entitled to anything. Enjoy being stuck in your coddled world
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u/Straight-Bet1 12h ago
This isn’t an accusation.
You’re making g a confession.
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14h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/HockeyDockey1234 14h ago
Dang man, you never got picked to play sports did you? I feel bad that you peaked in middle school
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u/tennisdrums 12h ago
It isn't "life" delivering the humble pie, it's something other high schoolers with their own agency are being told to do. Do you think it's an appropriate lesson to teach high schoolers to drive someone who has already lost into the ground as hard as possible when there's nothing to gain from it? As much as you need to learn how to deal with adversity and loss, people also need to learn how to win with grace and respect.
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u/HockeyDockey1234 12h ago
Yes, because we’ve tried the nice approach and that’s why society is fucked as is
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u/Haunted_Hills 13h ago
Anything less than trying your hardest is disrespect for your opponent. If they want a reprieve they can forfeit.
Sepperatly, they must have been waiting to fire this guy
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u/AvonAnon 12h ago
Calling an onside kick when you’re up by 56 points is classless and unnecessary. The other team had 16 players. There are 11 players on the field at a time.
Trying your hardest when up 50+ points in the first half means handing the most inexperienced players the ball over and over. And letting them get playing time. Trying your hardest is not calling an onside kick against a team that can barely field a team.
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u/Plenty-Daikon1121 12h ago
I'm actually from these two schools, grew up in Cottage Grove, my brother played football for them. I however, went to Marist High school (they're about 30 minutes apart).
To add some local context - CG only had 16 available players at the time of the game, and is a smaller rural town of about 13K people. Marist High is a private school that recruits it's players and hand selects who can be on the team. This whole thing was completely lacking in all concepts of sportsmanship from the Marist coach.
These are 16 yr old boys, not NFL guys being paid millions even if they lose. Marist did the right thing here. I'm glad they fired this guy based on principles. He was also known to be verbally abusive to his players and had a LOT of parental complaints for his coaching style.
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u/Extension_Way_621 10h ago
looks like we found all the participation trophy kids in here. who cares that they were winning 50+ points and did an onside kick. poor sportsmanship? sure,
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u/dag_nabbit420 15h ago edited 15h ago
"running up the score"? In a game where the objective is to have more points and play to your best ability, at what point exactly do you stop trying? This is ridiculous. Could have been 100-0, the coach shouldn't be fired for "running up the score". Edit: damn, y'all, all I'm saying is I don't think this being a first time offense for the coach should result in firing him.
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u/_WeSellBlankets_ 15h ago
I agree that running up the score shouldn't be an issue, but kicking an onside kick in the first half when you're up 56 to nothing is certainly a choice.
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u/anwright1371 15h ago
They were playing a team with 16 players dressed. And it was 56-0 before half time. Not the time to prove a point. That’s the time to run the clock and get the game over with. There is a lack of players, lack of skill and lack of size. These are teenagers at the end of the day and this isn’t big time Texas football.
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15h ago
[deleted]
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u/Parrr8 15h ago
Because the kids who practiced and dressed should get a chance to play. I'm sure they knew they were in for an ass-kicking but trying to pile it on with shit like onside kicks up 56-0 is bush league bullshit and just trying to rub their nose in it. You can beat them, soundly, and still show sportsmanship and try to make it as positive an experience for everyone as possible. Fuck that guy.
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u/AaaahMyDogs 14h ago
Why? Canceling the game still ends in a loss… all you’re avoiding there is live-game experience.
The point of the comment was that the other team was no threat to make a comeback. The game was settled, so there was no football reason for an onside kick.
The coach either doesn’t understand high school football, or he does but he chose to be a total cunt. Either is a valid reason to fire him.
Can you keep all of your starters in the game until at least halftime and play hard? Yes. That’s the etiquette.
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u/lafolieisgood 15h ago
Dude, they were onside kicking up 56-0 in the 2 quarter.
There’s a difference between individual players trying their best and what was happening here.
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u/dag_nabbit420 15h ago
I don't think it's reasonable to jump to firing the coach, though. If the school admins wanted to have a conversation with him about stuff that comes off as a dick move then sure, do that. I just don't think he deserved to lose his job for this one thing. As far as I could tell from the article, this was the only transgression. No warning or anything.
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u/n0sa1nts 15h ago
Article states he went against the code of conduct. He doesn’t need an additional warning for that. Conducted himself like a douche and therefore was relieved of head coaching duties.
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u/lipp79 15h ago
That still seems like there was more to this and it wasn't just an onside kick, maybe some other politics. If that was literally the only reason, that's kind of insane. You talk to the coach afterwards and have him issue a public apology.
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u/n0sa1nts 15h ago
I mean that’s all speculation. It’s a private school that wants to be held to a code. They feel the coach violated that and sent him packing. They don’t owe him the ability to fix it next time. Sometimes that how life goes. You mess up and don’t get a chance to fix it.
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u/Plenty-Daikon1121 12h ago
I'm from the area (grew up in Cottage Grove but went to Marist high school). There has been a LOT of complaints made by Marist parents around the behavior of this coach. He's known for a being a brutal tyrant to his players, belittling etc.
This was really just the straw on the camels back.
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u/dag_nabbit420 11h ago
Now, THAT makes sense. It does sound like the kind of guy to be overly ruthless in practice, but I hadn't heard any of that.
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u/Plenty-Daikon1121 10h ago
Yeah, unfortunately stories like this aren't able to include all the local context, which I think sheds way more light on the situation.
There's the additional factor that as a private school, Marist recruits top local players to their team where as Cottage Grove is limited to their local district (which happens to be a smaller rural town with a total population of 13k).
In short this is the equivalent of a Lebron James dunking on a 9 yr old over and over again.
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u/Emergency-Hurry947 8h ago
Sounds like the coach was an abused child and is acting out. He needs professional help before he pisses the wrong guy off
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u/Personal_Good_5013 8h ago
Almost certainly when schools do stuff like this, this is not the first straw, more likely there were other issues and they were looking for a reason to get rid of him.
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u/sevseg_decoder 15h ago
At this level of college sports it’s entirely about the players themselves being built up into the best versions of themselves.
People forget 97% of college teams have, at most, a single player with legitimate prospects of even being a 6th round pick or practice squad guy for an NFL team. If even. Outside of D1 FBS winning isn’t everything like that.
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u/CapnDanger 15h ago
This is high school lol not even college. The team losing had only 16 players on the roster and was down 56-0 with still 2 minutes to halftime at the time of the onside kick
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u/WetSockAficionado 13h ago
Really the team with 16 players dressed had no business being there. Other teams literally forfeit games due to safety for not having an appropriate number of players. If you can’t dress enough guys then welcome to 8 man football
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u/hotelcalif 15h ago
And here I thought Ukraine had destroyed all the engagement bait bots.
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u/dag_nabbit420 15h ago
Just because I have a different opinion on this subject doesn't make me a bot. I'm not saying the coach isnt a dickhead for going for the inside kick, but to fire him for it is drastic.
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