A Texas coach who attempted to break up an in-game brawl by pulling opposing players off a pile has been charged with assault for precisely that.
As reported by West Texas Fox affiliate WPEJ, the Sanderson football coach David Donnell has been charged with Class A misdemeanor assault for pulling a pair of Marfa players off a mound of brawling opponents during a Texas 6-man football game.
Video of the incident circulated Tuesday, highlighting Donnell pulling the pair of Marfa players away from the fight with varying degrees of aggression. Most notably, the 61-year-old coach pulled one player off by his collar and spun him to the ground.
The coach was briefly jailed after being handcuffed at the game following the sideline review of video by police on the scene, but he was released shortly thereafter on bond.
While there has been no firm decision by officials from either school about the future of their representative coaching staffs, though the Terrell County ISD released the following statement in the aftermath:
“The incidents that occurred at the Sanderson v. Marfa football game on Friday, September 7th are unfortunate and embarrassing for both communities and school districts. There were actions by both teams that were unacceptable. The appropriate notifications have been made to UIL and TEA. The district will review the incident. Once all the facts are gathered, a decision regarding necessary actions will be taken. Until that time, and based on what is known now, we support our coaching staff.”