High School Football Coach Resigns After Using 'Nazi' Play Call

A high school football coach in Ohio resigned from his position after using racist and antisemitic language while calling out plays during a recent game, the New York Post reports.

Former Brooklyn High School head coach Tim McFarland and his players repeatedly used the term "Nazi" as a play call in last week's game against Beachwood High School, a school located in a Cleveland suburb with a reported 90% Jewish population, according to the latest survey published by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland in 2011. Brooklyn stopped using the term during the second half of the game after Beachwood threatened to pull its players off the field, however, Brooklyn players reportedly continued to direct other antisemitic terms at the Beachwood players, Beachwood Schools Superintendent Robert Hardis said in a statement obtained by the New York Post.

McFarland officially resigned from his position on Monday (September 25). Brooklyn Schools Superintendent Ted Caleris, who confirmed the coach handed in his notice of resignation, said McFarland "expresses his deepest regret" and that he and the school apologize for "hurtful and harmful speech," which Caleris claimed would "not be tolerated" moving forward.

Hardis shared a statement confirming that both districts remained in close contact and that Brooklyn had been "appropriately concerned and apologetic" after the incident took place.

“This is not the first time Beachwood student-athletes have been subjected to antisemitic and racist speech,” Hardis said in the statement obtained by the New York Post. “We always hope it will be the last.”

Incidents of antisemitism have reportedly risen by 35% from 2021-22, according to a study conducted by Tel Aviv University's Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Anti-Defamation League of the United States via the New York Post.