No Salisbury Administrator Pressured Football Coach to Quit, Deeb Says

No Salisbury Township School District administrator put pressure on the varsity football coach to quit, according to Monica Deeb, director of student activities and athletics. 

Deeb said Tuesday that she met with Rob Sawicki Friday afternoon and he said then he would . “He’s been thinking about this for some time, that he wants to do something else,” she said.  Sawicki told The Morning Call that he wanted to spend more time with his young children, and that his resignation had nothing to do with parents' complaints to the school board.   

Sawicki’s resignation came two days after a group of football booster club members  to the school board that he had demeaned and verbally abused some players and undermined morale. They said they had gone to Deeb and other administrators with their concerns but were still frustrated. Some parents said they wanted the district to bring in a completely new football coaching staff.  

Efforts to reach Sawicki for comment last week and this week have been unsuccessful.

Deeb said Tuesday that she and other administrators had looked into the parents’ complaints but she could not comment on the findings because it was a personnel issue. In an e-mail last week,  Superintendent Robert Gross also said that he could not comment on specific allegations, citing personnel confidentiality laws.

Asked about the fate of the assistant football coaches, Deeb declined comment for the same reasons. But she said all coaches at the district work on a one-year contract.  

She and other administrators plan to meet about the head coaching job after the Thanksgiving break and then advertise the position. The district will be looking for someone with high school coaching experience, she said, dismissing speculation from online commenters that the district has plans to move a particular coach into the job.  

“People can put anything they want out there,” Deeb said. “We can’t control spin.” 

Sawicki started in 2004 as an assistant coach to then head coach Mark Scisly. In 2006, Salisbury won the District XI Class 2A Eastern Conference title and qualified for districts in 2007 for the second time in the school's history, according to the district. Scisly left after the 2007 season ended and Sawicki became head coach in the spring of 2008. He led the team to the District XI Class 2A tournament in 2009. 

Deeb said Sawicki was a very hardworking coach and she wishes him well. “We’ve had a great 8 years,” she said.