Ohio coach let go after players stole from Hall of Fame; Parents, players ask district to reconsider

STRONGSVILLE — An Ohio high school announced that they’d be going in a “different direction” and chose not to bring back its football coach, now players and parents are urging the district to bring him back.

The decision to not bring back Strongsville High School head coach Lou Cirino came just over a month after players from his time stole over $1,000 of merchandise from the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: His players stole from the Football Hall of Fame. Now this Ohio coach is out of a job

On Thursday, the district’s school board met. Their meeting room was packed with football players and parents, all prepared to address the superintendent and the school board, WOIO in Cleveland reported.

More than a dozen people spoke, urging the district to reconsider the decision to not renew Cirino’s contract. Many said it wasn’t fair that he paid the price for the bad decision made by the players who stole from the Hall of Fame.

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In addition to attending the board meeting, an online petition in support of Cirino has nearly 1,700 signatures.

As News Center 7 previously reported, the district did not give a reason for letting the coach go when announcing that he would not be returning. The district’s superintendent previously said coaches are on one-year contracts that are not automatically renewed.

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