Willis ISD middle school educator removed from football coaching duties

WILLIS, Texas (KTRK) -- A Willis ISD middle school football coach was reportedly removed from his coaching position after several students were injured during an activity.

In a statement, a district spokesperson said the coach was relieved of his duties. She added that the coach remains a teacher in the district.

A Brabham Middle School seventh-grade student, Eric Rodriguez, plays on the team. He said that Wednesday was picture day for the athletes.

"Some people were goofing off. Some people weren't," he explained.

After pictures, he said his coach calmly told everyone to do 100 yards of bear crawls, a little less than the length of a football field. In a letter to parents, the coach would later explain it was punishment for their behavior.

Eric said many kids stopped because the dry, drought-worn grass tore up their hands, but he pushed through the pain.

"It was like burning," he said.

On Wednesday, the coach sent a letter apologizing to parents for the injuries. He said as soon as he saw kids getting hurt, they immediately stopped and called everyone over.

"This is my eighth year here, and I've never had an athlete hurt their hands from doing a bear crawl. When the boys got back in the locker room, I made sure to clean off their hands with hydrogen peroxide. I feel terrible about the entire situation. I apologized to the team at the end of practice, but I wanted to reach out and apologize to the parents," he explained in the letter.

Furious, Eric's dad, Rick Rodriguez, met with school administrators Thursday morning. He believes he is the only parent to do so.

He was told that the coach would be suspended pending the outcome of an investigation. He told ABC13 he feels the punishment is too harsh.

"I heard he was a good coach and teacher," he said.

More than 500 people have expressed the same in a petition calling to reinstate the coach, and many left comments criticizing those who complained and supporting the coach.

Rick Rodriguez said he took his son to the emergency room. Paperwork shows doctors told Rodriguez his son's blisters were first and second-degree burns and to put antibiotic ointment on them.

"People don't know what happened," he said.