John Jay coach admits he ordered hit on referee

According to a new report from ESPN, John Jay High School assistant football coach Mack Breed has admitted he ordered the blindside hit on a referee that has resulted in the suspension of two student-athletes.

ESPN’s Outside The Lines obtained documents that indicate Breed admitted his actions to the school’s principal. Football players Michael Moreno and Victor Rojas have been kicked off the team and suspended from school after blindsiding a referee in a coordinated attack during a game on Sept. 4. The players said the referee was using racial slurs throughout the game and that Breed told them “he needs to pay.”

Breed has since been placed on administrative leave by the school.

From Outside The Lines:

After reaching the school, John Jay Principal Robert Harris wrote, head football coach Gary Gutierrez eventually met face-to-face with Harris in Harris’ car in the school parking lot.

“He then informed me that Coach Breed had disclosed to him [Gutierrez] that he directed the players to take out the referee,” Harris wrote. “[Gutierrez] stated that Coach Breed initially asked him what was going to happen to the players during their ride home from the game. After Coach Gutierrez informed him that the players would be removed from the team, he informed Coach Gutierrez that he directed the players to strike the referee.”

That meeting, in the early-morning hours of Sept. 5, was followed by another meeting in Harris’ office, at 6 p.m. that same day.

“I later met with Coach Breed at John Jay High School … in my office in the presence of Coach Gutierrez,” Harris wrote. “Coach Breed told me that he directed the students to make the referee pay for his racial comments and calls. He wanted to take full responsibility for his actions. Mr. Breed at one point during our conversation stated that he should have handled the referee himself.”

The two players are scheduled for a hearing today at the Northside Independent School District’s headquarters in San Antonio. They could be assigned to an alternative school or expelled, according to the district.

Rojas and Moreno appeared on Good Morning America last week, claiming they were only following orders from their coach. They’re currently attending an alternative school while the district continues its investigation.

Click here to read the complete report.

Update 5:22 p.m. (CST): It was determined today that the two players will not be allowed to return to the high school until the spring semester, their attorney said. Moreno is a senior but Rojas, a sophomore, might be allowed to play football next year. His attorney said nothing discussed during Wednesday’s hearing would make him believe otherwise.