Reports: White suspended as football coach
District officials not commenting on absence from Friday’s game
Forrest City Mustangs Football Coach Teli White did not coach Friday’s night’s homecoming game against Batesville because he has reportedly been suspended, according to sources familiar with the situation.
This is not White’s first suspension from a football program.
In January, White was hired to replace Rich Trail as the Mustangs head football coach.
At that time, White had not coached since 2017 because of a suspension at Trezevant High School. Although that case had been settled in court and a judge ruled White could be reinstated, he was instead working for the City of Memphis when he was hired by the FC School District.
The Times-Herald emailed a Freedom of Information request to Forrest City School District Superintendent Dr. Tiffany Hardrick and board president Sandra Taylor this morning regarding the suspension, but as of press time, district officials had not responded to the request or commented on the matter.
FCSD Public Relations Director Kendall Owens called the situation a “personnel matter.”
However, other sources with knowledge of the football program, have told the TimesHerald that White was suspended for actions involving football players. One incident, according to sources, reportedly occurred after a parent of a football player allegedly confronted White over his conduct toward the man’s son.
It was also reported to the newspaper by several sources that after the team’s loss in the annual Hall of Fame game to Greene County Tech, White would not allow the players to cross the field to shake hands with their opponent.
A committee, consisting of Hardrick, athletic director Donnie Willis, high school principal Malcolm Jones, coach Allen Perry and Keith Sanders, a consultant to the district, selected White from more than 60 applicants.
According to news reports, White was fired from Trezevant after a report from an independent auditor looking into grade-changing allegations at the school, but a judge later ordered he should be reinstated.
WREG News 3 in Memphis reported, at that time, that the audit revealed 53 Trezevant students graduated during a four-year period without actually earning their diplomas after hundreds of grades were changed from failing to passing.
Memphis school officials said discrepancies were discovered
after finding several students’ report card grades did not match the grades reported in their transcripts.
White argued that he was disciplined twice for the same infraction, having been suspended once and later fired for the same offense. The district argued, according to online news reports, that White had more transcripts on his computer than he previously revealed.
The reinstatement, according to a chancery court judge’s ruling, was ordered because the judge said the district could not use the same facts to both suspend and fire White, saying he could return to his job at a Shelby County school.
White was being paid $36,675 for his job as a Workforce Development Specialist with the City of Memphis.
White’s salary more than doubled when he accepted the position with the FCSD.
Information on the district’s website shows White’s contract for the 2021-22 school year is $77,281.34 as a teacher/head coach.