A petition has been created to exonerate Macomb Dakota head football coach Greg Baur after he was suspended before Friday’s season-ending loss to rival Sterling Heights Stevenson in a second-round state playoff game.
According to the petition, the suspension stemmed from an incident following Dakota’s 34-13 upset at defending state champion Clinton Township Chippewa in a first-round game on Nov. 1.
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A father of a Dakota player who also graduated from Chippewa Valley burned his old Chippewa Valley football jacket in the parking lot when buses driving Dakota players returned to the school following the game, according to the petition.
The father allegedly told his son years ago that if Dakota ever beat Chippewa Valley on Chippewa Valley’s field, then he’d burn his jacket, the petition said.
Players and coaches weren’t aware of what was going on, didn’t participate in the burning, and the father later apologized and admitted he acted alone, according to the petition.
The petition said players and coaches were initially blamed for the incident and Baur was suspended.
He didn’t coach in Dakota’s 38-35 loss to Stevenson.
The petition has been created in hopes of getting the Chippewa Valley School District to issue a statement exonerating Bauer and the Dakota team.
In a letter sent out to staff and families of Chippewa Valley Schools, district superintendent Ron Roberts said a video was posted of students surrounding the burning jacket.
Roberts acknowledged in the letter that coaches had no prior knowledge that the burning would take place, but that during the incident, coaches didn’t take proper action and halt the incident.
“Once the coaches were aware, they did not take steps the district expects of its coaches to ensure student safety,” Roberts said in the letter.
Roberts also didn’t condone the behavior of the father who burned his jacket.