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While Greg Fowler will resume his post as a teacher at Crystal River High School, his position as the Pirates’ head football coach is still very much in doubt.
In a Citrus County School Board report released Tuesday morning, Fowler was served with a 10-day suspension as a teacher for profane, abusive language toward his football players.
He has already completed the punishment, which ended Nov. 9.
Fowler was remorseful during a phone interview in which he apologized for using foul language, but he maintained he never hurled insults at individuals.
“I might have asked a player why they didn’t catch the (expletive) ball,” Fowler said, “but I don’t recall ever directing (anything) at one of my guys.”
In a statement issued by Crystal River activities director Tony Stukes, Fowler’s future hasn’t been determined but will be within a week’s time.
“We have not made a decision yet,” Stukes said. “Obviously, we would like to get a handle on everything and make a decision.”
When asked if he thought the findings of the investigation would potentially undermine his credibility with future CRHS student athletes, Fowler dismissed the notion.
“I don’t think so at all. I have a good relationship with those kids,” Fowler said. “The findings from the report were that the kids interviewed thought I was a good coach, but they didn’t care for me as a person.
“I don’t know if I liked my coaches when I was a kid,” he added.
Crystal River finished 6-4 in 2012, with Fowler missing the last three games. Under interim coach Randy Owens, the Pirates were 2-1 in those contests.
In 17 career games as the Pirates’ head coach, Fowler is 10-7. When he was hired in 2011, he said he saw the Crystal River job as being one he could spend years at if everyone involved with the program was happy.
He still holds that to be true.
“I think I need to find a different motivational tool,” Fowler said. “I need to redirect the intensity.
“I think if anyone’s watched the program in the last 10 years, they would see this program is going in the right direction on the field.”
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Copyright © 2013
BULLY COACH
ANY NORMAL PERSON WOULD KNOW ABSOLUTELY THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT A FOOTBALL COACH "CUSSING" ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD- AND THIS IS NO "NEW" NEWS TO THE SCHOOL OR THE SCHOOL BOARD THAT'S WHY THEY HAD TO TAKE SOME ACTION AND SUSPEND THE HEAD COACH- MAYBE THE PAPER SHOULD HAVE GOT ALL THE FACTS FROM EVERYONE INVOLVED INSTEAD OF LIGHTENING UP THE STORY!!! FROM WHAT I KNOW THERE HAS BEEN SEVERAL FOOTBALL COACHES THROUGHOUT THE YEARS AT CRHS AND YES PROBABLY AT SOME POINT HAD CUSSED- BUT DAY AFTER DAY THE MENTAL ABUSE WEARS ON THE PLAYERS AND ASSISTANT COACHES- THIS MAY OF JUST COME OUT BUT HAS BEEN KNOWN SINCE SUMMER- WHEN YOU HAVE AT LEAST 14 PLAYERS QUIT A FOOTBALL TEAM & MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS FROM LOCAL PARENTS/FANS THERE HAS GOT TO BE A PROBLEM - A LOT MORE THAN CUSSING, COME ON PEOPLE ITS FOOTBALL BUT WE ARE ALL STILL HUMAN!!!!!
PAPER STATES 6 OUT OF 7 COACHES AGREED??? UMMMM DEAD GIVE AWAY, 6 COACHES THAT HAVE LIVED HERE THEIR WHOLE LIVES SOME WHO EVEN PLAYED FOR CRHS AND THE 1 THAT DIDN'T CAME ALONG WITH COACH FOWLER- ANOTHER GIVE AWAY!!! UNLESS YOU HAVE A CHILD THAT HAS BEEN COACHED BY THIS MAN PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS BEFORE CALLING THESE PLAYERS OR COACHES CRY BABIES!!! PLAYERS THAT STOOD UP FOR THEMSELVES CALL IT "PIRATE PRIDE"!!!! LETS JUST HOPE FOR WHAT'S RIGHT FOR THE KIDS COMING UP INTO THIS SCHOOL-