How powerful is Nick Saban? One Louisiana high school football coach just found out the hard way.
David Feaster was recently fired as the head from Parkway High School in Bossier City, Louisiana.
“Coach Feaster and I do not share the same philosophy or vision for Parkway High School athletics,” Principal Waylon Bates said in a statement.
The reason why this all exploded onto the national scene was because of Feaster’s decision recently to bar coaches from the University of Alabama from recruiting his players
Apparently, this has been a longstanding concern; Feaster first said Tide coaches were “unwelcome” way back in 2015:
“Most people are going to say ‘Feaster just ran his mouth,’ but (Parkway) made it clear to me why they fired me,” Feaster told The Shreveport Times. “They can say what they want to about Alabama, but (Bates) cited me for insubordination. He said, ‘You should have checked with me before you banned Alabama.’
“I said, ‘That was four years ago, you weren’t even the principal here.’ But he said I brought so much negative publicity to the school I had to go.”
Feaster might have thought his success would protect him; he has the most wins in school history.
He also has a bit of a point, as he noted when detailing Alabama’s recruitment of quarterback Brandon Harris. Feaster felt like Saban wasn’t being honest with his scholarship offers, including during a phone conversation, when Saban apparently promised an offer that wasn’t really an offer.
But in the end, the real power in Louisiana high school athletics was revealed, as Feaster was given the ouster.
The reasoning given: school officials at Parkway believed Feaster “undermined” them and hurt the future of the school’s athletic program.
“Coaches work at the pleasure of the principal and it was the decision of the administration to make a change in Parkway’s football program and go in a different direction,” Scott Smith, superintendent of Bossier Parish Schools said.
But, let’s be real: the message here is that if you want to keep your job as a high school football coach in the south, you absolutely do not do anything to anger Alabama football.
Despite the school’s beliefs and decision, members of the Parkway football team still support their now former head coach.
Y'all just messed up BIG TIME !
— JG (@_justinrogers) February 17, 2017
BIGGGG TIME https://t.co/vqETGeIOoe
— Keondre Wudtee (@CoachWudtee) February 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/TerraceMJR/status/832624453905416192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/TerraceMJR/status/832627884074360832
