The legendary championship-winning former football coach at a suburban Philadelphia high school rocked by hazing allegations said canceling the rest of the season was an "overzealous, knee jerk, overreaction."
"By any fair measurement what allegedly occurred does not justify the extreme punishment rendered," said former Central Bucks West High School football coach Mike Pettine, Sr. "The school district decision made it appear that crimes were committed. My understanding is the police investigation concluded there was no criminal behavior yet the district decision made is seem that we had a similar repeat of the heinous abuses and crimes associated with the Sayreville HS hazing incident in NJ.
"Our district thus sparked a media frenzy that portrayed Central Bucks West HS in a negative image from coast to coast -- not to mention the community of Doylestown."
Pettine Sr. said in a statement Wednesday the district unfairly punished the entire Central Bucks West student body, tarnishing the school's reputation.
"The fallout from this ill advised decision is irreparable," said Pettine. "When an out-of-state person recognizes the name of Central Bucks West HS they will not be thinking of a school with a great academic and extracurricular tradition but rather that school that had that terrible hazing incident."
The district said the team engaged in "humiliating and inappropriate" preseason rituals for rookies, including grabbing another player's genitals while fully clothed.
Pettine called for the ouster of board members who agreed with the move.
"The administrators responsible for this travesty of mismanagement are the individuals who should be suspended, and any school board member who supported their decision should resign."
The 74-year-old Pettine coached the Bucks to four state titles and is the father of Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine Jr. His team's 1999 championship was documented in the movie The Last Game.
The elder Pettine says the district's reaction threw "an irresponsible blanket of guilt over every player and coach."
"The canceled East-West game not only punished West players but also the band members, cheerleaders, and general student body along with their sister school counterparts," Pettine said. "It tainted the reputation of the entire coaching staff - most of whom I have the privilege to know and are the kind of high character mentors you want coaching your kids. Most egregious was punishing the players who did nothing but have been held equally accountable. That is ludicrous and so is the so called policy that was applied to irresponsibly hand down collective guilt."
