Jeff Snavely, the high school football coach for Darby, resigned on Friday. Snavely had been under fire for comments made on his social media page regarding the protesters in Salt Lake City. After the incident in early June, the Darby School Board voted to suspend Snavely without pay for a year and had set up other corrective actions for both Snavely and the school itself.
According to a press release from Darby Schools, those plans will still happen. They include having a series of community conversations and forming a racial/social justice committee at the school.
Per the press release, “his resignation does not erase the fact that these steps are still an important part of the healing in our community. We will honor our commitment to completing those, as the district begins the search for a new football coach.”
In an interview on Monday, July 13, Snavely said he didn’t resign because of the punishment, he resigned because he felt it would be unfair to his players to have an interim coach for a year. He said if he had stayed, he wouldn’t be able to talk to the players, or even his brother who is an assistant coach for Darby. “It hurts the kids, and I want to give the kids the best chance.”
Snavely had thought about retiring last fall after the season but said his passion for the game and the team was still there. For now, he’ll spend a lot more time with his family, fish, and come this fall, he may be in the stands, on Friday nights.