Alabama football coach on leave after video shows him punching player in locker room

Published 11:36 am Wednesday, September 7, 2022

A first-year Alabama high school football coach was placed on leave after a video surfaced that appeared to show a man striking a player in a locker room, news outlets reported.

Blount High School coach Josh Harris was placed on administrative leave during an investigation into the video, which circulated online, said Rena Phillips, a spokeswoman for Mobile County’s public schools.

The video appears to show a man dressed in purple, one of Blount’s colors, punching a player, who responds with a loud cry, WPMI-TV reported. It’s unclear when the video was made.

Harris, a graduate of Blount, is in his first season as head coach at the school, which is located near Mobile. He played quarterback at Tuskegee.