A Louisiana high school football coach was fired when videos surfaced showing players repeatedly using the N-word during raucous pre-game locker room chants, school officials said.
Nathaniel Jones was relieved of his duties Tuesday from St. Augustine High School — an all-boys Catholic school in New Orleans — two days after two separate videos appeared on social media showing unidentified coaches leading the team in profanity-laced attempts to get them fired up before games, NOLA.com reports.
“All I got is two hands, two pads, knockin’ that [n-word]’s s–t loose,” the players chanted, video obtained by WWLT shows. “I got two hands, two pads, this the Aug s–t.”
In a statement released Tuesday, St. Augustine President Kenneth Charles said the conduct was inexcusable and had no place at the historically black high school, adding that it was time for new leadership after the videos came to light.
“Following a review of our football program, we have decided to go in a new direction,” school officials said. “We thank Coach Jones for his contributions and service to St. Augustine and our football team.”
Jones’ ouster came two days after the school said in a statement that it was “shocked and embarrassed” by the footage, which had been recorded as recently as Friday. A second video was apparently taken prior to a game on Sept. 28.
Two assistant coaches will also no longer work at the school, St. Augustine officials said.
Jones, who had led the team since February 2018, did not return requests for comment, NOLA.com reports.
One former graduate of the high school said he was glad administrators responded to the controversy so quickly.
“It’s evil, it’s horrible, it’s an abomination on humanity – no one should use that word in its original form or in any modern-day derivative,” alumnus Austin Badon told NOLA.com. “It is not who we are as a brotherhood at St. Augustine.”
But another alumnus and a onetime cornerback for the New Orleans Saints disagreed with that assessment, saying racial slurs like the n-word are only offensive if used in racist contexts.
“Whether it’s high school level, college level or pro level, there’s nothing [politically correct] being used in the locker room prior to the games,” Tyrone Hughes, who played six NFL seasons from 1993 to 1998, told NOLA.com. “You’re going to say whatever you need to say to motivate the team you have depending on the players you have.”
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