HS football players’ burning of a gay flag ‘sickens’ coach

In June, a couple of players of the Kearns High School football team set fire to a Pride flag, filmed it, and posted it to social media. And someone in the video is heard saying “all gays die.”

The head coach of the football team, Matt Rickards told FOX 13 News, “There’s no place for that in our program at all, and it won’t be tolerated. It’s potentially a hate crime, so it sickens me.”

“Our number one goal is to build men of character, integrity, be responsible, have empathy for others and serve the community for good. That’s our number one objective,” Rickards said.

The Granite School District is investigating the incident and evaluating what discipline the students will face if deemed necessary, and Rikards is also considering ramifications from his position as head coach.

“We take any comment, content or social media post that is intended to make any student feel unsafe, very seriously,” said Ben Horsley, a Granite School District Spokesman. “This student’s actions are in no way reflective of the Kearns community and high school. This is an unfortunate reminder that we need parents’ help to monitor children’s use of social media to ensure they use it in a responsible fashion.”

Rickards is also looking into the ramifications from his position as head coach. “We have one rule in our program, and that is not to embarrass yourself, your family or your team,” he said. “That rule was broken. There’s got to be consequences for that.”