‘Last Chance U’ Coach Resigns After Hitler Text Surfaces

On February 27, 2019, it was reported that a Kansas football coach featured on the Netflix series “Last Chance U” had resigned from Independence Community College after controversial text messages were made public.

The resignation followed a report by the Montgomery County Chronicle, a weekly newspaper in southeast Kansas. According to the report, the coach sent text messages to a German-born student on the team, a redshirt freshman defensive back from Dortmund, telling the player he was his “new Hitler.” Screenshots of the exchange, which the player later posted to social media, also showed the coach calling the student a “German [expletive],” informing him he was cut from the team, and stating his scholarship was revoked. The messages referenced the player having 17 points under the team’s disciplinary system, where 25 points resulted in dismissal.

In a resignation letter posted to Twitter, the coach stated that the local newspaper article had greatly diminished his ability to do his job and had set the program back significantly. He wrote that these factors constituted a constructive discharge of his employment, making it impossible to remain at the college.

Independence Community College president Daniel Barwick stated that the text messages were unacceptable, though he did not immediately comment on the resignation itself. At the time of the report, the college was investigating the matter.