The Leon County School District has released its report into former Chiles High School Football Coach Kevin Pettis. He was removed from his position earlier this month over claims he asked players to injure a member of an opposing team, and verbally berated several of his own players and a team assistant.
Pettis has called the allegations outlined against him in the report a "witch hunt."
The report by the firm Sniffin and Spellman could not substantiate a claim that Pettis asked his players to intentionally injure an opponent. The report also reached no conclusion regarding Pettis' involvement with two of his players who appeared to be attending the school out of zone. The families of those players appear to have faked leases to homes within the school district but did not live at those properties.
The investigation did show a pattern of targeting certain players and team members. According to the findings, Pettis violated the district’s ethics code when he made derogatory statements to a player with a disability and mocked another for having a younger girlfriend. Pettis also verbally berated the team’s student manager and accused her of sleeping with team members when she tried to intervene on behalf of the player with the younger girlfriend.
In a statement, the district noted that Chiles' assistant football coach Trey Pettis has also been placed on administrative leave.
Kevin Pettis has been reassigned, though the district did not specify where. The report is being sent to the Florida High School Athletics Association.
The investigation was sparked by an anonymous letter sent to FHSAA, the Florida Department of Education and the Leon County School District on March 10th.
