Miles Smith has resigned as head coach of the Desert Ridge football team, a move confirmed by a parent of a player on Monday, October 19. This news drops just weeks after a major controversy ripped through the program, seeing the starting quarterback dismissed and a dozen players suspended.
It All Started With A QB Firing
The drama really kicked off on October 5, when Coach Smith decided to dismiss starting quarterback Gunner Brewer from the team. Brewer told The Arizona Republic that his dismissal came after he changed a play in the October 2 game against Vail Cienega without getting permission from Smith. You gotta wonder what kind of conversation that was, because Smith and athletic director Kevin Swann never gave their side of the story to the Republic. Talk about radio silence.
Player Walkout Leads To Suspensions And A Crushing Loss
Things escalated big time on October 7. A meeting was held with the players to discuss Brewer’s dismissal, and one player straight up asked everyone who wanted Brewer back on the team to raise their hand. A group of players did just that. What happened next? A coach told them if they didn’t like the decision, they could leave. And twelve players walked out. They were hoping to return to the team, but nope, they were suspended for the rest of the season. Oof.
The very next day, October 8, The Arizona Republic tried to cover Desert Ridge’s home game against Tempe Corona del Sol but was denied access by the school. That game? The Jaguars lost 50-0. That’s a brutal hit, especially with everything else going on. Miles Smith, with his father Lovie, resigned after all this went down, according to the parent. Gilbert Public Schools’ chief communications officer, Dawn Mackay, said on Monday night that they were “unable to comment as no official resignation has been received.” Smith didn’t respond to a text message, and Principal Scott Smith hasn’t returned an email either.
Desert Ridge, now sitting at a rough 2-6 record for the season, has to hit the road this Friday, October 23, to face Gilbert Highland. What’s left of this team has a tough path ahead, and you gotta wonder what kind of locker room they’ll have going into that one with a new coach, or lack thereof.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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