Royal High football will be without its head coach when it opens its season Friday night.
School and Simi Valley Unified School District administrators are looking into an incident that took place between second-year coach Adam Brubaker and a player at practice Aug. 19, according to a letter sent by Royal Principal Reina Zapata to parents Thursday.
She wrote to parents Aug. 20 that school leaders "are taking the matter seriously."
“School and District administration are currently gathering information and reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident.,” she said in the letter.
Reached Aug. 20, Brubaker said he was addressing a player who had tackled a teammate during a non-contact period when he kicked a football laying at his feet.
The football
struck the player in the groin.
“There was a football in front of me,” Brubaker said. “I was pissed. I wanted to kick the football all the way to Royal Avenue. Instead, it hits (the player).
“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to hit him,” the coach said.
Brubaker's account matches a video sent to The Star Thursday morning.
He said he met with the player to apologize before reporting the events to Royal High athletic director Reid Furlong.
District officials said the incident is being investigated. It was not clear what Brubaker's status with the school was as of Aug. 20.
The incident happened two days before the Highlanders, who were 3-7 last year in Brubaker’s first season, host North Hills-Monroe in their season opener.
Royal is in the process of figuring out who will lead the team Friday night.
“We are putting an interim coaching plan in place to make sure practices and the football program continue with as little disruption as possible,” wrote Zapata, who met with the team to answer questions Thursday morning.
“Our priority is the safety and well-being of our student-athletes and maintaining a positive environment for the team," she said in her message. "We also recognize that the team is preparing for a game this week. To the extent possible, we want to limit disruption for our students and allow them to focus on practice, their teammates, and getting ready to compete.”
Joe Curley covers football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcspreps on Twitter/X, Instagram/Threads, Facebook, Bluesky and TikTok.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Royal High football coach on ice after incident with player
