Savannah Youth Football Coach Banned After Striking Player

SAVANNAH, GA — A youth football coach who also was employed as a counselor by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office until Thursday has been banned by the American Youth Football league after video of him assaulting one of his players during a game earlier this week surfaced and went viral.

The coach was identified as Gerrel Williams, who was captured on video striking one of his Savannah Gators 9-and-under players during the AYF national championships in Kissimmee, Florida, on Monday. Yahoo! Sports reported that the Osceola (Fla.). County Sheriff’s Office obtained video of the incident and contacted the player’s mother, who did not wish to press charges against the coach, according to media reports.

According to the Gators' team Facebook page, Williams — who was not identified by the team other than as the "head coach" — had been dismissed. League officials called Williams’ actions a “complete breach” of its code of conduct for coaches and told Yahoo! Sports that Williams had been expelled from all future events.

In the video, which lasts approximately 40 seconds, Williams is seen approaching the unidentified player as he walks off the field with his teammates. Williams is seen striking the player in the helmet and knocking him off balance before hitting him again and sending him to the ground. Williams then continues to scream at the player before pushing him off the field as the players’ teammates watch.

The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office terminated Williams from his job as a counselor at the detention center on Thursday after officials there became aware of the incident.

In a statement provided to Patch on Friday, Chatham County Sheriff John T. Wilcher said that he is "very disturbed" by Williams' actions and that the department does not condone such behavior. The statement said that as of Thursday, Williams was no longer employed at the detention center.

In a Facebook Live video posted to his account earlier this week, Williams apologized for the incident.

“At the end of the day, I am a man, and I’m not gon’ make no excuses for what I did,” he said in the video, which is no longer available. “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have disciplined him in public — I shoulda waited ‘til he got back — for doing what he did.

“At the end of the day, I apologize to him, the kids, the city … and my family back at home. I do apologize. There’s no excuse for my actions. I hope he forgive me, and his parents have forgiven me.

On its team Facebook page, the Savannah Gators apologized for the incident and said the team’s entire coaching staff would be replaced. The team said that it does not support coaches putting their hands on players and apologized to the rest of the league and to the player's mother for the way the situation was handled.

The Savannah Morning News contacted the player's mother, who is named in the team’s Facebook post but not identified by the newspaper. The mother declined to discuss the incident but told the newspaper that she knows “that none of these coaches would harm (the kids).”

According to the AYF tournament website, the Gators are scheduled to play again on Friday after advancing to the tournament semifinals with a 45-27 victory over the Winston-Salem Indians.