Details: Adam Brubaker, head coach at Royal HS, was fired hours before their season opener after this video went viral. Royal won their opener 62-0.
I'm as pro-coach as they come, and I have zero problem with this.
California FOOTBALL COACH LOSES HIS COOL — KICKS BALL into PLAYER’S GROIN and GETS FIRED pic.twitter.com/5g9wVRpjOr
— RT (@RT_com) August 22, 2026
He lost his temper, which shows poor anger management. Poor anger management can be a sign of poor leadership. He lashes out and kicks the ball, it hits a player, player goes down. He doesn't tend to the player. He doesn't run over and apologize. He doesn't immediately take accountability for his mistake.
He later apologized to the player and the player accepted it, but the district fired him. The district made the right choice. The district didn't fire him for his actions, they fired him because of everything he did immediately after the incident. He failed himself and his players.
If he immediately apologized to the player, apologized to the team, reported himself to school administration and took accountability, apologized to the parents, and maybe suspended himself for a game to make it clear that he holds everyone, including himself, to the highest standards, then you let him stay.
School district was in the right here, and it's pretty rare for me to say that.
