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A white football coach in Camden, N.J., was fired from his position and placed on administrative leave as a teacher, which comes right after his allegation that he was being pushed out of his job because he’s enlisted too many Black players on the team.
Nick Strom says school President Mary Whipkey and Principal Heather Crisci targeted his job as a history teacher for Camden Catholic High School in an effort to get rid of him as a football coach, reports the Courier-Post.
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Strom says Whipkey and Crisci told him his teaching contract would not be renewed and because of that he would need to step down from his coaching football and golfing position too.
The school cited several reasons, including “professional dress violations”; “leaving class early at the end of the day to prepare for golf”; and “leaving your class in the hallway and not providing instruction while you were (talking) to a college coach.” He was informed of his termination Monday evening.
Calling bullcrap
“I think this is from me not conforming with their viewpoints on what they want the student body and the football team to look like,” Strom said.
“I’ve tried to build this program into one that’s based on kids being of ability, high character and high grades. From day one, the administration told me they did not approve of the ratio of Black to white students.”
Strom says Whipkey has brought up race “10 to 20 times” since he was hired in 2013. Half of the team are minorities, he said.
“When I’d have a list of potential freshmen, the first question I’d be asked is if they were white or Black,” he said. “I was confused about why the question was, ‘How can we get more white players in the program or on the field?’”
Whipkey denies the claims saying she’s never asked about adding more white kids.
“We are not that kind of environment and we take it very seriously when those accusations are made,” Whipkey said. “This is a special community here. We embrace our diversity here. Those accusations are not true.”
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Strom’s record as coach is consistently strong. Since he became coach in 2013, the team has gone 34-6, with a 34-2 record against teams in South Jersey. Strom said he wants the best kids and doesn’t care about race.
“I don’t think as coaches we get into that. You’re trying to improve your team and trying to help kids be a part of society to make a difference in their lives.”
The school released a statement condemning the racial claim and criticized Strom.
“We do not comment on personnel matters, but it has come to our attention that he has chosen to muddy the reasons for his dismissal with baseless accusations against the school and administration,” it read. “Any concern about racism or racial insensitivity is taken seriously and investigated fully.”