Move comes 2 weeks after Oilers’ Nowell went viral for fight with fan at WC game
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Two weeks after his widely publicized brawl at a Wayne County football game, Jim Nowell has stepped down as head football coach at Heidelberg High School, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation said.
On Aug. 25 at the Wayne County vs. Quitman game, a commotion on the home side of War Eagle Stadium turned fans’ attention from the game to a bloody-faced man who was soon identified as Nowell.
Fans in attendance said that Nowell smelled strongly of alcohol and was belligerent before getting into a physical altercation with a man identified as Johnathan Dearman of Waynesboro. Nowell charged down the stadium steps toward Dearman before Dearman pummeled him with a barrage of punches. Neither man was taken into custody for the incident.
The incident became a social media phenomenon for a few days, with media outlets like the New York Post, TMZ and AL.com picking up the story.
The East Jasper School District was contacted by Leader-Call on Wednesday morning, but a representative who answered the phone said the district cannot comment on personnel issues despite reports that Nowell is no longer an employee of the school district. The day after the incident, the EJSD said in a statement that the matter was under investigation, but could not release any additional details.
Nowell was also contacted by the Leader-Call, but he did not respond to a request for comment.
The former head coach was hired by Heidelberg in 2021, and the Oilers won Region 8-2A in his first season as head coach. Coming into 2022, the Oilers looked to be one of the stronger teams in Class 2A with a host of starters returning.
Before his time at Heidelberg, Nowell spent time at multiple high schools across the state. Before that, he was a strength and conditioning coach at LSU under Nick Saban and later at Mississippi State under Sylvester Croom.
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