Coach From Viral Youth Tackling Video Was Fired In 2020, When Incident Happened

The viral video of a Charlotte, N.C., youth football drill that led to outrage on social media actually took place in September, and the coach responsible has since been fired, a lawyer for the program told USA Today.

"This drill occurred back in September 2020 on a team with a first year coach in the program," attorney Christopher Duggan told USA Today in a written statement. "This was addressed immediately with the coach when it happened, as this was deemed not an acceptable drill for this age group or the experience level of these players. Subsequent to the coach being removed from his position, there were no other incidents or issues with this team during the remainder of the season."

The video, posted to Twitter earlier this week, revealed a violent collision as one child attempted to tackle another and instead was knocked to the ground. A voice is heard telling the child to stand up by saying "you're good, you're good."

Duggan also told USA Today "the safety of the players is the primary focus, and we believe that the immediate and swift actions of removing the coach from his position demonstrates WCWAA’s commitment to that safety."

The video drew major backlash across social media, especially from NFL former players, parents, youth coaches and media members.

"Attention all parents! If your kid is doing this drill. Take your child off the field and don’t go back to those stupid coaches," former NFL wide receiver Torrey Smith tweeted. "Coaches like this aren’t safe and ruin the image of football."

USA Football also came out strongly against the video in an email to USA Today.

"This is against everything that we in football stand for and has no place in our game," spokesperson Steve Alic wrote. "It is an affront to the millions of Moms and Dads who coach youth football with the greatest care for their kids."

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Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.