Viera Coach Fired After Hazing Incident

[gatorman-uf]

https://highschool.si.com/florida/2023/08/20/viera-football-coach-shane-staples-fired-over-alleged-hazing-scandal

[Joshua Wilson]

1. Coach was not fired.

2. Coach was suspended until further notice, per Florida Today.

[Trelle]

11 hours ago, Joshua Wilson said:

1. Coach was not fired.

2. Coach was suspended until further notice, per Florida Today.

I think it’s bad reporting there Josh, causing confusion. Like this report, headline states fired but then the article states he’s been relieved of duties until further notice implying a suspension.

 

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/hazing-video-of-viera-high-school-student-pinned-down-prompts-suspension-of-high-school-football-activities.amp

[PinellasFB]

 I just hate punishing an entire team and school for a few players acts.  If it was coercion, then suspend the violators but not the whole team.  

[Perspective]

42 minutes ago, PinellasFB said:

 I just hate punishing an entire team and school for a few players acts.  If it was coercion, then suspend the violators but not the whole team.  

In general, I agree with you.   But situations like this are challenging.   Do you punish the head coach (for creating/allowing a culture where something like this could happen)?  Assistant coaches (clean house to get rid of everyone associated with the incident)?  Are the "violators" just the ones who were actively involved?  What about kids in the locker room who were complicit, because they watched/laughed/kept watch, but chose to otherwise stand silent and do nothing to protect the victims?  I guess I'm trying to figure out how you would apportion the punishment based on various degrees of involvement.  But, for any kid who played no role (perhaps some of the kids were still out on the field or in the training room), I agree they should not be punished, per se.  It would be a shame if there were not enough of those kids to even field a team. 

[Joshua Wilson]

3 hours ago, Trelle said:

I think it’s bad reporting there Josh, causing confusion. Like this report, headline states fired but then the article states he’s been relieved of duties until further notice implying a suspension.

 

https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/hazing-video-of-viera-high-school-student-pinned-down-prompts-suspension-of-high-school-football-activities.amp

And hence why it is critical to get the headline and report correct. Relived of duties would imply fired, but the school district said relived of duties until further notice, implying the suspension as you said. Headlines are everything, because if the coach ends up being reinstated, he could go after those who implied he was fired. Journalism integrity is important. 

[Jambun82]

12 hours ago, PinellasFB said:

 I just hate punishing an entire team and school for a few players acts.  If it was coercion, then suspend the violators but not the whole team.  

You could just imagine being a player who is completely innocent, now being punished with no games to play though no fault of their own. If I was a parent of such a player, I would make my voice heard in that meeting that is coming up. This is why unlimited transfers for players for any reason at all, not questions asked, nobody else'e business is the RIGHT idea for Florida High School Football. 

[PinellasFB]

12 hours ago, Jambun82 said:

This is why unlimited transfers for players for any reason at all, not questions asked, nobody else'e business is the RIGHT idea for Florida High School Football. 

I completely disagree with this but it is a separate topic.  In this case, innocent kids should have the right to transfer if their season is cancelled but the smarter thing to do is to not cancel the season.

[Perspective]

20 minutes ago, PinellasFB said:

I completely disagree with this but it is a separate topic.  In this case, innocent kids should have the right to transfer if their season is cancelled but the smarter thing to do is to not cancel the season.

The biggest problem I see right now is the time factor.  According to the various articles, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office has opened an investigation.  Such investigations rarely are completed in short order (there's that whole "due process" thing).  But I suspect football could continue while that investigation is taking place. 

However, the Superintendent of the Brevard County School Board "temporarily suspended all football operations" at Viera. That suggests to me that the school board will be conducting some sort of review and possibly will have to have a meeting before football operations can resume.  How long will this take?  How much practice time can a team afford to miss?  Once they receive the green light to start up again, assuming the light does indeed turn green, how many practices would they need to have before a game could be played?  

Viera is supposed to play South Fork this Friday night, followed by Satellite and Rockledge.  Viera's not scheduled to play their first district game until 9/29.  It wouldn't surprise me if the school board investigation takes a few weeks and Viera is forced to forfeit their first three games.   But, if they can get back on the field in time for district play, at least the season will be salvaged for those players who are allowed to continue playing. 

[Jambun82]

7 hours ago, Perspective said:

The biggest problem I see right now is the time factor.  According to the various articles, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office has opened an investigation.  Such investigations rarely are completed in short order (there's that whole "due process" thing).  But I suspect football could continue while that investigation is taking place. 

However, the Superintendent of the Brevard County School Board "temporarily suspended all football operations" at Viera. That suggests to me that the school board will be conducting some sort of review and possibly will have to have a meeting before football operations can resume.  How long will this take?  How much practice time can a team afford to miss?  Once they receive the green light to start up again, assuming the light does indeed turn green, how many practices would they need to have before a game could be played?  

Viera is supposed to play South Fork this Friday night, followed by Satellite and Rockledge.  Viera's not scheduled to play their first district game until 9/29.  It wouldn't surprise me if the school board investigation takes a few weeks and Viera is forced to forfeit their first three games.   But, if they can get back on the field in time for district play, at least the season will be salvaged for those players who are allowed to continue playing. 

That is still not good enough in my view. It is some timing that proposed property tax bills have been mailed out in Volusia County, that makes it always a great time to remember just who these public school employees work for and who the real bosses are. Thankfully, Florida is a state that holds these taxpayer-funded public servants accountable. 

[Jambun82]

8 hours ago, PinellasFB said:

I completely disagree with this but it is a separate topic.  In this case, innocent kids should have the right to transfer if their season is cancelled but the smarter thing to do is to not cancel the season.

I consider them linked, PinellasFB. 

[Drogo]

7 hours ago, Perspective said:

The biggest problem I see right now is the time factor.  According to the various articles, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office has opened an investigation.  Such investigations rarely are completed in short order (there's that whole "due process" thing).  But I suspect football could continue while that investigation is taking place. 

However, the Superintendent of the Brevard County School Board "temporarily suspended all football operations" at Viera. That suggests to me that the school board will be conducting some sort of review and possibly will have to have a meeting before football operations can resume.  How long will this take?  How much practice time can a team afford to miss?  Once they receive the green light to start up again, assuming the light does indeed turn green, how many practices would they need to have before a game could be played?  

Viera is supposed to play South Fork this Friday night, followed by Satellite and Rockledge.  Viera's not scheduled to play their first district game until 9/29.  It wouldn't surprise me if the school board investigation takes a few weeks and Viera is forced to forfeit their first three games.   But, if they can get back on the field in time for district play, at least the season will be salvaged for those players who are allowed to continue playing. 

Viera did had to forfeit the South Fork game as South Fork was unable to find a makeup game in such short notice. 

[nolebull813]

23 minutes ago, Drogo said:

Viera did had to forfeit the South Fork game as South Fork was unable to find a makeup game in such short notice. 

They can play River Ridge. Land O Lakes is in the same situation as Viera

[Hwy17]

22 hours ago, Jambun82 said:

You could just imagine being a player who is completely innocent, now being punished with no games to play though no fault of their own. If I was a parent of such a player, I would make my voice heard in that meeting that is coming up. This is why unlimited transfers for players for any reason at all, not questions asked, nobody else'e business is the RIGHT idea for Florida High School Football. 

I somewhat disagree.  There is a lesson to be learned here. 1. Life isn't always fair; 2. Your actions effects others for good or bad; 3. Even if not involved, if you knew and said or did nothing you are complicit; 4. This is supposed to be a team and if one fails or does wrong the whole team did. The military has this philosophy and for good reason.  Ultimately sports like football should be about teaching life lessons, not the going got hard so time to bail out.  

Sorry, I don't mean to preach but I  believe Viera's admin did the right thing here given the circumstances. 

[Jambun82]

1 hour ago, Hwy17 said:

I somewhat disagree.  There is a lesson to be learned here. 1. Life isn't always fair; 2. Your actions effects others for good or bad; 3. Even if not involved, if you knew and said or did nothing you are complicit; 4. This is supposed to be a team and if one fails or does wrong the whole team did. The military has this philosophy and for good reason.  Ultimately sports like football should be about teaching life lessons, not the going got hard so time to bail out.  

Sorry, I don't mean to preach but I  believe Viera's admin did the right thing here given the circumstances. 

The Viera Admin. did not make this decision, the Brevard County School Board did. 

[Hwy17]

11 hours ago, Jambun82 said:

The Viera Admin. did not make this decision, the Brevard County School Board did. 

Either way, I believe that was the right decision. 

[Perspective]

14 hours ago, nolebull813 said:

They can play River Ridge. Land O Lakes is in the same situation as Viera

https://www.fox13news.com/news/land-o-lakes-high-school-football-team-suspended-following-allegations-of-locker-room-fight

I gotta say, from my perspective, the situations at Viera and Land O Lakes are very different.   Per the linked article, the LOL situation involved a locker room fight between two freshman players on the JV team.  The article also mentioned that some of the players in the locker room whipped out their phones and started recording the fight.   Wow, there's a shocker. 

Per the article:  "On Tuesday, the district chose to cancel all games and practices indefinitely while they investigate the situation, meaning the JV and varsity's season kick off games against River Ridge High School this week, won't be happening."  That, in my opinion, is an overreaction by the District.   Unless there is significantly more to this story, this matter should have been handled internally by the coaches -- suspending the two JV players involved in the fight, if necessary, and perhaps a "team conditioning penalty" for stupidity (taking/sharing the videos).   Suspending varsity activities (causing the cancellation of a game) is way too excessive. 

[Perspective]

13 hours ago, Hwy17 said:

I somewhat disagree.  There is a lesson to be learned here. 1. Life isn't always fair; 2. Your actions effects others for good or bad; 3. Even if not involved, if you knew and said or did nothing you are complicit; 4. This is supposed to be a team and if one fails or does wrong the whole team did. The military has this philosophy and for good reason.  Ultimately sports like football should be about teaching life lessons, not the going got hard so time to bail out.  

Sorry, I don't mean to preach but I  believe Viera's admin did the right thing here given the circumstances. 

Along these same lines, it occurs to me that within the game of football itself, teams are routinely 'penalized' when an infraction is committed by a single member of the team.   An offensive lineman gets caught holding and the team gets penalized ten yards.   So, yes, I agree with you that teams must sometimes pay the price for the actions of individuals . . .  within reason (see my LOL post). 

I have no problem with kids learning lessons through sports  (back to that FHSAA announcement you hear before every game about athletics being an extension of the classroom).  But, I don't think you penalize kids just to prove to them that life isn't fair.  They'll learn that lesson often enough as it is.  

A couple of guys get into a scuffle, that's one thing.   Systematic hazing - especially if condoned by the coaches - is a whole different story.  But here's the bottom line for me:  the Brevard County School Board needs to recognize the impact of their decision (i.e., the decision to suspend football activities pending an investigation) and they need to accelerate the investigation process as quickly as possible to determine if and what penalties are appropriate so that those not involved can resume football activities as soon as possible. 

[imjustafan2]

Some good news out of the Viera story.

https://spacecoastdaily.com/2023/08/bps-board-chair-matt-susin-no-forfeit-for-viera-football-south-fork-and-hawks-will-reschedule-fridays-week-1-football-game/?fbclid=IwAR3VN8h-R7KbN9qfD7GJyctr9O1fX2UyfkFwqltYXTZJKvTH8OPejot1w8U

[Jambun82]

12 hours ago, Perspective said:

https://www.fox13news.com/news/land-o-lakes-high-school-football-team-suspended-following-allegations-of-locker-room-fight

I gotta say, from my perspective, the situations at Viera and Land O Lakes are very different.   Per the linked article, the LOL situation involved a locker room fight between two freshman players on the JV team.  The article also mentioned that some of the players in the locker room whipped out their phones and started recording the fight.   Wow, there's a shocker. 

Per the article:  "On Tuesday, the district chose to cancel all games and practices indefinitely while they investigate the situation, meaning the JV and varsity's season kick off games against River Ridge High School this week, won't be happening."  That, in my opinion, is an overreaction by the District.   Unless there is significantly more to this story, this matter should have been handled internally by the coaches -- suspending the two JV players involved in the fight, if necessary, and perhaps a "team conditioning penalty" for stupidity (taking/sharing the videos).   Suspending varsity activities (causing the cancellation of a game) is way too excessive. 

I applaud those parents of Land O'Lakes High School Football players, and the players themselves, for standing up and letting their voices be heard to the Pasco County School Board. These Public School Taxpayer-Supported Public Servants need to be reminded who they work for. I have been told that Viera's football team is now practicing, so that is a step in the right direction. 

[Perspective]

Updates: 

Per the article above:  "Viera High School is still investigating the individuals involved in the incident criminally but have allowed those not involved to begin practicing again today."   I have no idea how many individuals are being investigated and, therefore, how many players are able to practice.   And while the Martin County Superintendent rescinded the "forfeit" (saying the teams would try to find another date later in the season to play -- although that's always difficult), it does not appear that either team (Viera or South Fork) will be playing Friday night. 

As for the Land O Lakes matter, the football program has been reinstated and their game is on for Friday night. 

https://www.fox13news.com/video/1268477

 

 

[Perspective]

Another update:

Viera's back in action:  https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/second-opportunity-viera-high-school-will-compete-in-football-games-district-ends-suspension

Interestingly, no mention is made in the article as to the status of the coach.