*In San Antonio, Texas, John Jay High School assistant football coach Mack Breed (pictured) has resigned after disputing his original statement in which he admitted to telling two of his players to hit referee Robert Watts (from behind) in a game against Marble Falls on Sept. 4 (scroll down to see the hits).
USA Today Sports references a report from ESPN on Thursday that included an admission from Breed’s attorney that Breed did resign and will no longer testify at the University Interscholastic League (UIL) hearing on the situation. Prior to his resignation, Breed was placed on administrative leave pending an NISD investigation after the incident with the Watts.
On Wednesday (Sept. 23), ESPN mentioned a meeting Breed had with Jay High principal Robert Harris on Sept. 5 in which he admitted that saying he “directed the students to make the referee pay for his racial comments and calls.” The interaction with Breed and Jay High head football coach Gary Gutierrez was captured in a statement Harris signed that is now part of the NISD’s investigation. Adding to this are comments from the two players at the center of the case, who stated that Breed told them to attack Watts.
Countering his original statement, Breed released a second statement, denying that he told the players to go after the referee, two sources confirmed to KENS5.com. According to one of the sources, Breed added in his statement that he took the blame in the incident to protect the players from being expelled.
The following is Breed’s signed second statement, via USA Today Sports, which is included in the NISD report that was sent to the UIL:
“I wrote a statement on Sept. 5 about an incident that occurred on Sept. 4. This statement is written to explain why the previous statement was not entirely true.
“I never told anyone to hurt or target anyone on Sept. 4. To understand that statement, you must know who I am. I’m 29 years old and have been coaching for six years. My job in working with these kids means the world to me. I don’t have any children, so they are my own sons. I would take a bullet for my kids if I had to.
“That being said, that is what I did Friday night after the game. Me and my head coach (Gutierrez) were sitting across from each other on the bus, so we started talking about the events that took place. Throughout the conversation, I started to realize how serious it could be for the boys at that point, so I took the blame for them.
“I did that hoping the kids would still be able to play and not get expelled from school,” Breed wrote. “The following day, we were watching film as a staff and I was called into the principal’s office to write a statement about what I told the head coach on the bus. Again, I did this thinking the kids would be let off the hook and that everything would be fine.
“Now that I have seen the video and see how they hit the referee, I can no longer take the blame for the incident,” Breed wrote. “I never told these players to hurt or injure anyone in that football game. I only made my earlier statement to try and save the boys from being kicked off the team. I wanted more time to teach them discipline and character they need.
“I didn’t realize the statement made on Saturday was going to be forwarded to district office. I assumed it was going to be used to help save the kids. Now that I’m giving a formal statement, I want to be honest about the situation that occurred on Friday night.
“If the coach would have told me to write a statement on what happened at the game, I would have wrote one similar to this one,” Breed wrote. “Instead, when I wrote a statement about what I told him (Gutierrez) I wrote a false statement based on our conversation from the night before in an effort to protect the kids. That is why the statement from Sept. 5 is so vague.”
Despite Breed’s denial in the second statement, one of the sources acknowledged evidence that supports the players’ statements that Breed directed them to get Watts.
“There were numerous kids that said ‘Coach Breed told us we’ve got to make that guy pay. He’s been cheating us all night long,’” the source said. “Now did he say, ‘Go hit the referee in the back?’ Did he say, ‘Injure the guy?’ Did he say, ‘You hit him first and then you spear him second?’ I don’t think Mack Breed said that. Nobody ever said the coach told them to hit him from the back and hurt him.”
The NISD investigation notes allegations from several Jay players that Watts used racial slurs directed at black and Hispanic members of the team during the game.
Watts’ attorney, Alan Goldberger, has denied the players’ allegations, USA Today Sports reports.
In addition, a hint of doubt exists as the same source voiced that NISD investigators got word from other players that they weren’t certain if the order to attack Watts came from Breed or a player. The two players involved were suspended from school after the incident and have been assigned to the NISD alternative high school for 75 days. Starting Jan. 15, they can return to class, their attorney said Wednesday.
In the meanwhile, the UIL State Executive Committee met Thursday in Round Rock, TX to discuss the incident. If enough information and evidence is gathered by the committee action could be taken in the case.
Breed could be suspended for a maximum of three years if the State Committee Executive rules that he influenced the players to target Watts.
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