BROOKLYN, Ohio -- An Ohio high school football coach resigned Monday after his team used racist and antisemitic language to call out plays during a game last week.
Brooklyn High School coach Tim McFarland and his players repeatedly used the word "Nazi" as a playcall in a game against Beachwood High School. Beachwood, a Cleveland suburb, is roughly 90% Jewish, according to the latest survey, published in 2011, by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.
The Brooklyn team stopped using the term in the second half of the game after Beachwood threatened to pull its players from the field, according to a statement from Beachwood Schools Superintendent Robert Hardis. However, several Brooklyn players continued to direct racial slurs at Beachwood players during the game, the statement read.
McFarland handed in his notice of resignation Monday morning. Brooklyn Schools Superintendent Ted Caleris said in a statement that McFarland "expresses his deepest regret" and that he and the school apologize for "hurtful and harmful speech" that will "not be tolerated."
Caleris also stated that Brooklyn High School has been contacted by the Anti-Defamation League of Ohio and hopes to use the organization as a resource going forward from the incident.
Hardis confirmed in a statement that the two school districts are in close contact and that Brooklyn has been "appropriately concerned and apologetic."
"This is not the first time Beachwood student-athletes have been subjected to antisemitic and racist speech," Hardis also said. "We always hope it will be the last."
The statements did not mention disciplinary action toward the players involved.
Antisemitism in the United States has risen significantly in recent years, with no signs of declining, according to a study by Tel Aviv University's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League. From 2021 to 2022, the number of antisemitic incidents rose by 35%.
A football team can have terrible behavior for years while there is turnover in the same way that any group can. The new players are influenced by the older students as they come in in addition to the coaches, frequently filtering out the ones who don't want to conform to a culture of racism.
Although I didn't say it, the community where the school is located being racist would be consistent with their high school football team exhibiting racism on the field. It isn't like high school kids and coaches and those that attend the game aren't part of the community.
That of course isn't to say every single person in the community is racist, but those that are participating or watching high school football and are letting this behavior happen are racists or at the minimum complicit.