Report: Falmouth (Maine) football players sign petition seeking to remove head coach

Per the report, the players have lost faith in the Navigators’ head coach

Whenever a head coach is feeling pressure from the community to be removed, it’s usually coming from the parents of the players within the program. 

In the instance of Falmouth High School in Maine, it’s actually coming from the players themselves. 

A unprecedented event took place, per a report by Portland Press Herald’s Steve Craig, that members of the 2023 Navigators’ football team have signed a petition to have head coach John Fitzsimmons removed from his position. 

“Several of us have talked with you individually and in small groups about this, but we are now speaking with a collective voice to ask that you replace John Fitzsimmons with a new football coach next season,” the petition said per the report. 

Fitzsimmons, who has been the school’s head coach since 2007, has compiled an overall record of 84-66 during his time at Falmouth. The team dropped to 2-6 in 2023 after finishing 8-4 in 2022. 

Per Craig’s report of the situation, 22 of 30 players from the 2023 team signed the petition, with 21 of them being returnees for the 2024 campaign. 

“We come to you tonight, this time publicly, to ask for change in the Falmouth football team’s coaching leadership,” 2023 team defensive MVP Matthew Grace said per the report. “We are not adequately coached for competition, and our safety is not prioritized. We players have attempted to make our voices heard on this matter for far too long. Too many players have quit in recent years and not enough will return this fall if you do not make changes to the team’s coaching leadership. We do not understand why school officials will not pay attention to us. This program will be ruined by the inactions of the athletic director and administration.”

The report stated that players spoke up in regards to the 2023 campaign, in which instances the team had players playing in two games within a 96-hour span. One player in result ended up breaking his collarbone after playing in a Friday night varsity game and then a Monday night junior varsity contest due to a lack of players. 

Falmouth had to forfeit a game against Portland in 2023 due to a lack of players, with the Navigators only having 19 total.