Basketball fans have criticized a high school team for filming a foul-mouthed rant by their coach, which ultimately led to his resignation.
Earlier this week, Lynn Camp High School head coach Tyler Wagner resigned from his position after footage surfaced of him berating his team.
It showed him insulting his players several times during halftime of a game in 2023. His team, based in Kentucky, had only scored 14 points in the half.
Wagner told his team that their opponents were “screwing their asses off” and questioned his team’s desire and determination.
Wagner continued: “That’s why they’re in the top two in the league.” That’s why we’re at the bottom of the damn scale because we think we just deserve it. We don’t want to go and earn it.
A high school basketball coach has resigned from his position after footage emerged of him berating his team.
But basketball fans have come to coach Tyler Wagner’s defense on social media.
“That’s why you get your ass kicked every game. That’s why they’re going to kick your ass tonight and they’re going to kick your fucking ass on Saturday.
‘What are we doing? We don’t have common sense. We are playing so far away that we can’t even do anything.
-Jayden. You’re playing this far. What the fuck? What are we doing?
‘For example, we can’t run an offensive. I don’t understand. What is it? 12 points? 14 points? In the damn half. In the damn half. 14 fucking points.’
But the video, which has been viewed more than a million times on social media, sparked a fierce reaction from basketball fans who claim the behavior is normal in a locker room.
One fan wrote: ‘Soft kids would rather videotape the coach than play hard. Life will throw more than bad words at them once they graduate.
Another commented: ‘Wait, this is it??? My high school hockey coach was 100 times worse than this. It was normal.’
“If no coach has spoken to you like that, I don’t know what to tell you,” added a third.
“This was the norm 10 years ago, kids going mushy recording this,” another posted.
A fifth added: ‘I don’t see anything wrong. “Kids get excited about their game and care more about recording for social media than winning.”
In a statement announcing his resignation, Wagner pledged to “do better” and apologized to his players and their parents.
He wrote: ‘First I want to apologize for a recent video that has been made public. The video was recorded last year, fall 2023, at the beginning of our season.
‘The language I used in this video is not acceptable in any way. I let the competitive environment get the best of me and I’m so sorry.
‘I have fully accepted that what I did was not right and I am committed to doing better. I am not perfect, nor have I ever claimed to be.
‘I want to apologize to my players who were in the locker room, to the parents of those players and to the students of Lynn Camp High School. I’m really sorry you had to hear that and be a part of this controversy.
“My actions were not acceptable, my language was not acceptable and I need to be a better example if I am going to be a head coach or mentor to my players.”
“I am stepping down as Lynn Camp Men’s Basketball Head Coach, resigning effective immediately and plan to work on myself and become a better representative of my school, my family and the children of our great school.”