The 22 Hillcrest football players who missed practice Tuesday to voice complaints about head coach Kirk Merhish are officially off the team.
"All of those players are no longer part of the football team," said Melinda Colton, a Jordan School District spokesman. "Any player who feels he has extenuating circumstances for missing that practice can make an appointment with the coach and athletic director on Monday. They can discuss with them whether there is any possibility of returning to the team."
The players, most of whom are seniors, said they missed the practice to take their concerns about Merhish to the Jordan School District and never intended to permanently quit. But the program has a rule, which all of the players agree to in meetings before the season starts, that says players will not miss practices without an excuse.
"They committed to that in a spring meeting," Colton said.
Merhish was preparing to travel to a game at Riverton High when the decision came down. The coach, who has been at Hillcrest for 11 years and head coach for the last three, said earlier Friday that his decision to cut them from the team came from discussions with his assistants and the players who did not skip practice on Tuesday.
"I just made a new team out of what we had left," Merhish said.
Colton said the practices this week had been some of the best for the players who remain on the squad.
"Parents need to understand that while we value their input, they cannot hire and fire the coaches," Colton said. "We purposely don't take advice on personnel issues. We wouldn't have any teachers."
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