Carl Grissom has submitted his resignation as head coach of the Saugus High School baseball program, the William S. Hart Union High School District announced on Friday.
At Wednesday’s governing board meeting, Mandy Lovelace, the mother of a former player in the program, said during the public comment session that six players have left the program this year, two of them on a safety hardship transfer, and two other families were considering pulling their kids from the program if Grissom was retained.
She said during the public meeting that Grissom’s coaching style was “unethical and abusive.”
“This alone is stunning and more than enough to justify terminating Carl as a massive breach of his code of ethics that he signs every year,” Lovelace said.
On Friday, Grissom acknowledged his resignation in an email sent to parents and said Saturday’s planned games were canceled.
“I am writing this email with a heavy heart. I will no longer be the head coach at Saugus High School effective today,” Grissom wrote in the email. “This was not an easy decision for me, but I informed Saugus and the district that I will be resigning as the head coach of the baseball team. I appreciate everyone’s support over the last eight years. I wish your boys all the best and luck in their future endeavors in baseball.”
The Hart district sent the following statement to The Signal: “We want to express our deep gratitude for his years of service. We hope our school community joins us in wishing him all the best.”
In Lovelace’s address to the school board, she said one student who left the program had been physically assaulted by two teammates while another was sexually harassed by two teammates.
During one of those incidents, according to Lovelace, two players had played tag with other teammates using exposed genitalia.
She said Grissom had “brushed off” those incidents as “boys being boys,” and they were not reported. She added that assistant coaches have detailed what they have witnessed in writing, but they were also disregarded.
Lovelace had previously spoken about the environment that Grissom had allegedly allowed to be fostered at the board’s Dec. 6 meeting.
Grissom did not respond on Friday to a request for further comment.
