Dustin Delaney is out as head football coach of the Eaglecrest Raptors after leading the team for just a single game, the coach announced Wednesday on Twitter.
"To me, the answer was to resign and hopefully shine light on the issues that were there," Delaney said.
Delaney announced his resignation just before 5:30 p.m., in an iPhone Notes message screenshotted and posted to his Twitter page.
"I am writing this letter to announce my resignation as Head Football Coach at Eaglecrest High School," he writes. "I took this job on the reputation of Cherry Creek Schools and the districts [sic] motto of 'Dedicated to Excellence.' Since I moved here at the beginning of June, I have seen nothing even resembling excellence."
He goes on to say the school district is decaying and that no staffers there take accountability, instead shifting the blame. He names no one in particular but seems to aim his ire toward district officials that ignored his requests for repairs at the Eaglecrest football facilities.
He says in his note that he doesn't want anything except the best for his players and that he even took a pay cut to come to Eaglecrest from Shawnee Mission East in Kansas.
"Our locker rooms and bathrooms throughout our school don't have all the toilets working, don't have soap in the dispensers, and there are more broken sinks than there are ones that work," he continues in his message. "Our locker rooms do not have working showers and were used as storage for junk."
In detail, Delaney cites problems with the weight room and accuses the district of being responsible for a pair of injuries to his players.
"My colleagues claim that the fields have been unsafe for 15+ years and the district will never do anything about it," he says near the end. "We are jeopardizing kids [sic] futures with district negligence."
He ends the message by saying that he hopes his letter and resignation will jump start "the fixes that our students deserve."
In an emailed statement to 9NEWS, spokesperson Abbe Smith for Cherry Creek School District confirmed Delaney's resignation. The statement makes only passing mention to Delaney's considerable complaints and instead focuses on the players themselves:
It is unfortunate that Coach Delaney decided to leave his team at this point in the season. We have addressed concerns raised by Mr. Delaney over the summer. Eaglecrest has a long record of success academically and athletically and our focus moving forward is on our students. We met with players and parents this afternoon and look forward to a successful season with a new coaching staff.
The Eaglecrest Raptors started their 2018 season with a 49-35 win over the Highlands Ranch Falcons on Aug. 24. They'll take on the Fountain-Fort Carson Trojans on Friday without Delaney.
In a January profile by the Colorado High School Activities Association, Delaney is described as a very successful coach in Kansas.
He led Shawnee Mission East in Kansas for five seasons and took them to a Class 6A championship in 2014. His teams were 55-8 there, CHSAA said.
"My family and I are extremely honored and excited to join the Eaglecrest community," Delaney said in a statement to CHSAA in January. "I look forward to building on the foundation that has already been set in the Raptor football program."
According to KSHB in Kansas City, Mo., Delaney left Shawnee Mission East due to his disagreement with administrative decisions and claimed school officials cared more about the adults than the kids.
The district did confirm that Wednesday it made repairs to the practice field at Eaglecrest. Thursday afternoon, Delaney talked with 9News.
He says the fight with the district took its toll on him.
"I was crumbling as I fought the battle and weighing on me and I wasn't coaching in a way that I was proud of how I was coaching," Delaney said.
But, he is pleased that some of his complaints were finally addressed, even if it cost him his job.
"Kids aren't going to get hurt because of the school district as of yesterday which is great," Delaney said. "That should've happened a long time ago."
