Benton Harbor High School students on "inappropriate" texts from football coach
Two Benton Harbor High School student athletes have come forward after some “insensitive” text messages were allegedly sent by head football coach Elliot Uzelac earlier in the week.
Parents say those text messages between the coach and other staff members were “racist” and “inappropriate” as Coach U reportedly referred to a student player a “possible drug dealer.”
The students who played football under Coach U shared their mixed feelings about the situation Wednesday.
George Walker, a senior and former football player at BHHS, says yes, the messages were inappropriate but there's more to the story.
"Some of the comments, they weren't right. And I’m not going to sit here and protect Coach U because the comments, they just weren't right to me. But I will say he has done a lot for this community. And he's turned around a football program. He's helping some of the kids get into college," said Walker.
Another student stands by his former coach.
"He's a great man. I mean, everybody has a mess-up, I guess. You just can't judge somebody off that one mistake. It's not just about football. I don't even play for him anymore and he still calls me, asks me to lunch. Stuff like that," commented Percy Brown, BHHS senior and former football player.
Uzelac has since apologized for messages.
The district's school board is looking into the incident before making any decisions about his future with the school.