Piper coach gets one year
Probation sentence result of two-year-old battery case
DavidColemanwas sentencedTuesday inanassault case from2014, when he punched a player while serving as an assistant football coach at Taravella.
Coleman, nowcoaching and teaching at Piper High School, was found guilty of battery and reported for probation Tuesday morning.
The 32-year-old Coral Springs resident will return to Broward County court Thursday for a hearing in a separate case, related to his recent arrest for domestic abuse. Coleman was taken into custody on July 13 following an incident involving an ex-girlfriend.
Coleman pleaded no contest in the two-year-old battery case andwas sentenced to 12 months of probation and 250 hours of community service.
“I justwanted to get it over with,” Coleman told the Sun Sentinel earlyWednesday. “I am not a monster. I am not a bully. I just want to move coaching football and helping kids.”
Then the defensive coordinator under coach Dan Marguriut at Taravella, Coleman struck a freshman player on the side of his chest with his fist during a spring practice onMay 6, 2014. The blow dropped the 15-year-old to the ground and left a sizeable bruise on his ribs.
The boy and his parents reported the incident to Coral Springs police as well as to Taravella principal Shawn Cerra, who now serves as Broward Public Schools athletics director.
Coleman was fired from his coaching job and temporarily reassigned from teaching math at Taravella amid a district police investigation. During the probe, Coleman admitted to hitting the teen and said he had previously struck other players in a similar fashion. He on and continue