A Florida prep school football coach whose verbal abuse of a player went viral in a social media video has suspended himself for his actions.
Derek Jenks, head coach at Southwest Florida Preparatory and Technical Institute in Naples, Florida, announced the suspension in a Facebook video. He sat beside Alvin Day, the player he is shown screaming and cursing at in the video.
For those who missed the original video, the 45-year-old Jenks gets in Day’s face and screams and curses at him using extremely foul language. The video is very difficult to even watch.
BOOST!!! I think he wants to be famous. Coach Derek Jenks at SW Florida Tech and prep! @TizzyEnt @CNN ! @TalbertSwan pic.twitter.com/gp9ID90JdK
— Simply-Complicated (@Diamondqqs) September 9, 2023
In Jenks’ apology, posted on the SWFL Prep Tech Facebook page, the coach announces his suspension and vows to be a better person. He did not release details of his suspension.
“My actions I displayed as a coach and mentor today were very unacceptable and I take full responsibility for my actions and I need to be held accountable as I would hold a player accountable,” Jenks said.
“I do understand that I have broken the coach-player conduct and will seek the help to control my emotions and actions moving forward. as I tell our players they need to be better I need to walk in the same advise as them to do.”
“I’m glad that my coach is taking accountability for his actions … I’m glad he’s holding himself to the same standard that he held us to,” Day said. “I’m hoping we can move forward.”
Jenks is also Southwest Florida Preparatory and Technical Institute’s founder. The school, founded in 2022, offers SAT prep classes along with tech school options for football players after high school, in the hopes they will go on to play in college.
[USA Today; Photo Credit: SWFL Prep Tech]
