Schools

Head Football Coach at South East High School Dismissed

The former football coach shares his side of the story with South Gate Patch Latino.

Derwin Henderson, the head football coach that led the Jaguars to 15 wins during his 16 game tenure, is no longer coaching at South East High-School. The now former coach was fired this past Tuesday in connection to an alleged locker room fight that broke out between the players.

“A fight took place and they told me that I did not follow the right protocol,” said Henderson.

Find out what's happening in South Gate-Lynwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The former coach told Patch that the altercation between the players took place prior to his arrival to the school campus. According to Henderson, the fight happpened on Wednesday of last week.  

“I tried to get the best information from the players,” said Henderson as he recounted the first thing he did upon arriving that Wednesday. “I spoke with them as a team.”

Find out what's happening in South Gate-Lynwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Henderson says that after speaking with the players he went ahead and reported the incident to his supervisor.

“I relayed the information to the Athletic Director,” said Henderson.

According to Henderson, he was then told by the school that such an incident was suppose to have been immediately reported to the school principal, and that he did not file the right paperwork.

The former coach, who is a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and is not an employee of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), said that his dismissal caught him off guard.

Further adding that he believes that the school did not act appropriately in this affair.

“I was not going to get an attorney but now I am,” said Henderson. “I think the whole ethic is wrong.”

Henderson told Patch that the greatest loss for him is not being able to coach his players.

“I am going to miss those 45 kids, who gave me everything they had,” said Henderson. “I wish them the best.”

During Henderson's time as a coach South East High School won its first City Section Division II Championship. This was a title that was later vacated by the City Section due to the use of an ineligible player, according to the LA times. 

South Gate Patch Latino reached out to the South East High School administration to get their side of the story.  However, the school said that at this moment they could not provide us with any information on this topic. 

The LAUSD issued the following statement  to the LA Times: 

"We can confirm that the head football coach has been let go. Due to the on-going investigation of the incident by school officials, no other details are available."

Keep up with South Gate Patch Latino by subscribing to breaking news alerts, liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter. Have an event or announcement you'd like to publicize? Submit them for free.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from South Gate-Lynwood