BROOKLYN, Ohio — Tim McFarland, head football coach of Brooklyn High School, resigned from his position on Monday morning after Brooklyn players were heard using the word "Nazi" to call out plays during their game with Beachwood on Friday.
A statement was released from Brooklyn City Schools Superintendent Dr. Ted Caleris on Monday afternoon confirming McFarland's resignation. That statement can be seen below:
"The Brooklyn City Schools accepted the resignation of Head Football Coach Tim McFarland on Monday morning, effective immediately, in light of an incident where the coaching staff used a designated play-call referencing the word “Nazi” at this past Friday night’s football game with Beachwood High School. Coach McFarland expresses his deepest regret about the matter, and offers his sincerest apologies to the Beachwood and Brooklyn School Communities. The Brooklyn City Schools echoes this regret, and apology as well. As stated, this hurtful and harmful speech will not be tolerated, in any form, by Brooklyn City Schools leadership. While to the district’s knowledge the language was not directed to any single individual, the Brooklyn City Schools acknowledges that using such offensive language in the first place was utterly and absolutely wrong.
"Notwithstanding what has happened, the Brooklyn City Schools family is choosing to learn from this matter, and hopefully, to grow as a result. Already, the Brooklyn City Schools has been contacted by the Anti-Defamation League of Ohio, who among others, we will hope to use as a resource for our school district going forward to promote understanding and tolerance."
Details of the incidents were first revealed on Friday evening in the wake of Brooklyn's 35-3 road win over Beachwood. In a letter to the Beachwood Schools community on Saturday, Superintendent Dr. Robert Hardis announced that a number of antisemitic incidents took place on the field.
Hardis stated that he learned late in the first half of the game that Brooklyn’s team was repeatedly using the word “Nazi” to call out a play. Game officials were notified, as were Brooklyn's athletic director and head coach. According to Hardis, during halftime, "Brooklyn’s coach acknowledged using this word as the play call, apologized, and agreed to change it when the teams returned for the second half." Beachwood school leaders told the game officials that should the use of "Nazi" continue, they would pull their players off the field.
But while Hardis says that to his knowledge, "Nazi" was not used during the second half, members of Beachwood's team said that several Brooklyn players were using "a racial slur freely throughout the night." Beachwood is roughly 90% Jewish, and the incident took place just before the start of the Jewish High Holy Day of Yom Kippur.
Speaking to 3News Tuesday, Caleris acknowledged he found out about what happened "late Friday night" after the game. According to the superintendent, McFarland told him the "Nazi" audible call had been in his playbook "for multiple years" and "was not specifically designed for the Beachwood game." Caleris could not verify if it was used during any other games in the past.
Watch the full interview:
"I couldn't be more apologetic for what happened to the Beachwood community, the Beachwood students, the Beachwood families," Caleris said, adding his district's investigation did not determine if other antisemitic slurs were uttered by the Hurricanes. "Regardless of intent, regardless of how it was used, it lacked common sense. It was unacceptable to us, and we're not going to tolerate that here."
Caleris eventually spoke to McFarland and both decided "it was best for everyone for him to move on," with the coach offering his resignation in that moment. He leaves Brooklyn after just over 2 1/2 seasons as head coach, during which he posted a 9-18 record with one playoff appearance.
Caleris says he has been in contact with the Anti-Defamation League of Cleveland, which issued a statement that read, "There is no room in sports for Holocaust references and racial slurs. Student athletes should be put in a position to best reflect their school's commitment to inclusive, fair play."