See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
The moment the Thomas Jefferson football team takes the field for its first game, it needs to move past all the events that led up to it.
The Orange Wave was forced to forfeit its first two games of the season because too few of the players attended practices — out of loyalty to ousted head coach Stephen Edwards, and his top assistant Gus Cyrus, who chose not to join interim coach Frederick Nash’s staff. The boycott left the erstwhille gridiron powerhouse with an incomplete roster.
The school finally gave in to save the season as the situation reached a critical point for one of the Public School Athletic League’s fastest growing programs in its top division. By league rules, a third forfeit would have canceled the rest of the season.
Edwards will now have a chance to reclaim his job, according to school athletic director David Rivera, provided the beloved coach is cleared by an investigation into the weight-room accident that cost him his job in the first place.
Rivera will take over as head coach in the meantime, because every head coach must have a Department of Education file number and Cyrus, who has agreed to return, does not have one.
Since Cyrus’s return, the team has had 40–50 kids practicing regularly and expects to be back on the field at home against DeWitt Clinton on Sept. 21, according to Rivera.
“That’s really our primary goal, and really our only goal right now is to put this all behind us and get the kids back on the field every single day,” Rivera said.
Jefferson walked a fine line between caving to its kids and saving its program, but ultimately did the right thing. Rivera was surprised the players didn’t respond to Nash, but he shouldn’t have been. His replacement of Edwards quickly alienated both the players and Cyrus.
“The kids really respond well to Gus and his staff,” Rivera said.
Rivera feels there was no harm in bringing back Cyrus, who did the bulk of the coaching on game day anyway. Rivera said Curus —who was supervising the workout when a player chipped a tooth — did nothing that put any of the kids in danger. Cyrus, though, took the blame for beginning the workout without a licensed teacher around, which is what got Edwards in hot water after the accident.
Ultimately, it’s a minor incident that shouldn’t cost anyone his job. The most important thing is that Jefferson will be playing football again — despite a very misguided process.