A coach for the Massillon City School District has resumed his duties after returning from administrative leave following a hazing investigation involving football players at the high school.
Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Nate Moore returned to his post on July 25, according to a statement from the district.
You can read the full statement below:
"While Coach Moore was on paid administrative leave our administrative team was able to review all aspects of the situation. At the conclusion of this review we are extremely confident in his ability to lead our athletic programs as well as our football team. We are excited to get back to business as Coach Moore returned to work on July 25, 2023. Once again, we have the utmost confidence in Coach Moore's leadership moving forward."
Hazing sparks investigation
According to a Massillon Police report, on June 26, during football practice downtime at an indoor field, some members of the football team would rush an unsuspecting player, pin them to the ground and "take an article of clothing from them." This happened to multiple players. Some lost a shoe, while others just had their clothing pulled at.
During one such incident, a player lost his flip-flops and shorts and ended up naked from the waist down. Another player who was filming it on SnapChat realized their teammate was partially naked and deleted the video, the report said.
Moore later spoke with the student who filmed the event and was informed that it had been deleted. The report stated that there was no evidence the video was shared. It was also permanently deleted from the student's phone.
In total, there were 15 alleged perpetrators and six victims. The parents of every player were contacted.
The mother of the student who lost his shorts spoke to police and said she and her son talked about it and did not want to pursue charges but stated that it "got out of hand and was stupid." She further went on to say that all of the players involved were friends and would likely continue to hang out at her house.
"I wish it was still 1980 when we didn't have to scrutinize youthful stupidity like this," she said in the report.
While Moore wasn't present when the hazing occurred, the incident led the school district to place him on paid administrative leave while several football players faced discipline.
No charges have been filed, but the police report states after the investigation is complete, it may be submitted to the prosecutor's office for consideration.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
