Willow Glen football coach suspended; two assistants to lead Rams on Friday
Willow Glen's Oscar Caballero suspended from coaching duties as district investigates sideline incident at last week's game.
SAN JOSE — Willow Glen football coach Oscar Caballero has been suspended and won’t lead his team at home on Friday against Overfelt as the San Jose Unified School District continues investigating a sideline incident last week involving a crew member holding the yard markers.
In an email to the Bay Area News Group on Friday, district spokesperson Jennifer Maddox wrote, “The head coach has been suspended from coaching duties during the investigation and will not be coaching at the Willow Glen High game tonight. The Willow Glen High varsity team will be coached by assistant coaches BK Robertson and Aaron Lewis in tonight’s home game with Overfelt.”
Maddox noted that the district has been working with league officials from the Central Coast Section to investigate the incident, which was captured on video.
The Bay Area News Group has seen the grainy video shot from the other side of the field at Leland High last Friday night. In the video, the coach picks up his pace as he approaches and appears to contact the crew member. The crew member falls to the ground.
Willow Glen’s parents have come to the defense of Caballero, saying the crew member, a Leland parent, was violating rules by videotaping and tripped when confronted by the Willow Glen coach.
“Coach Caballero did not assault the parent volunteer,” Bryan Holmes, writing on behalf of the WGHS Rams parents, said in the email on Wednesday. “He walked over to him after multiple players reported to him that he was video taping them and their play calling process and slapped the phone he was video recording with out of his hand, which caused him to step back and trip over the chain.”
Even if the district concludes the Leland parent tripped over the chain, the coach involved could be disciplined for taking matters into his own hands rather than asking the head referee or a school administrator to take charge.
Crew members at high school games who hold the yard markers, commonly referred to as the chain gang, generally are volunteers affiliated with the home team. They line up on the visiting sideline during games and follow play up and down the field.