Former Wareham High football coach said unruly parents, players drove him to quit

WAREHAM, Mass — Brandon Perry said a constant barrage of complaints and verbal abuse from parents over their child’s playing time drove him to quit his job as the head football coach at Wareham High School.

“It was just negative comment after negative comment, derogatory comments,” Perry said. “It just weighs on you as a coach. At some point, it becomes not worth it.”

Perry walked away after only seven games into his first season coaching the Vikings. The 39-year-old from Mattapoisett said he has 12 years of coaching experience but never went through anything like this. Most of the issues he said stemmed from five or six parents upset over their child’s playing time. Perry said one frustrated parent even confronted him at his car after a game.

“It was really the stuff after the games or after practices that really became too much and over the top,” Perry said. “Some of the underclassmen, the players and [their] parents, were really the biggest issue. I don’t want to say all of them, because it certainly wasn’t, but there was a select group of individuals that really caused a problem for everybody.”

Wareham Public Schools Superintendent Matt D’Andrea did not respond to Boston 25′s request for comment.

Coaches, referees and umpires have been blowing the whistle for years on unruly and out-of-control parents. In Oct. 2022, Kahn Chace quit his head coaching position at Cardinal Spellman in Brockton because of aggressive and verbally abusive parents.

“The breaking point was a public display of disrespect in front of the entire team, the families, the other team,” Kahn said last year. “I’m not Bill Belichick. I’m not the Patriots. I don’t get paid millions of dollars. I get a little bit of a stipend and I do it because I like the kids.”

Perry said he chose to speak out because he continues to get abusive messages on social media.

“The harassment has continued even after I’ve resigned, which is really why I’m speaking out about it now because it just hasn’t ended,” Perry said.

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