Sebring McKinley football head coach Matt Seidel and an assistant placed on leave pending investigation

SEBRING – Sebring Local School District placed head coach Matt Seidel and an assistant coach on paid leave following an argument involving a player's parent during the team's Oct. 15 game against Western Reserve High School.

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Superintendent Toni Viscounte suspended Seidel and assistant coach Dalton Smith last week from their coaching assignments pending an internal investigation, according to documents obtained by The Canton Repository through a public records request.

The district reinstated Seidel last Thursday, and he was able to coach in last week's game, according to Viscounte, and Smith was suspended for the remainder of the season. 

Seidel and Smith both said they cannot speak about the incident until after the team's season ends. The Trojans will play their final game of the year at 7 p.m. Friday against Leetonia.

More on McKinley High School football:Sebring football opener with Leetonia is canceled because of COVID

What happened at the Sebring football game?

Deputies with the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office responded to an argument that broke out around 9 p.m. during the Oct. 15 football game at Western Reserve Stadium.

Deputy Joel Gensler saw a Sebring football coach remove his shirt while shouting at another man on the other side of the track fence in the stadium, according to an incident report from the Mahoning County Sheriff's Office. 

Gensler then saw a man approach the sideline from the visitors bleachers, shouting profanities at the coach. He and Deputy Bryan Brooks attempted to break up the argument, and the man, who is a parent of a Sebring football player, shouted profanities at the deputies. The deputies told the man to leave, according to the report, but he refused.

Meanwhile, the man's son shouted profanities at the coaches and began walking toward the stadium gates, according to the account of Detective Sgt. Anthony Murphy. Gensler and Brooks were still dealing with the player's father, and the player appeared "agitated," according to the report. Murphy followed him and attempted to calm him down.

"At this time I was approached by a Sebring coach who said that the player could not leave with his equipment and requested him to leave it on the sideline," Murphy said in the report.

Murphy advised the player to return his equipment to the sideline. As he escorted the player back, the report says Seidel shouted at Murphy, telling him to get off the sideline and take the player back to the locker room. 

"I advised the athletic director that I took the player back to the sidelines at the request of one of the coaches and that the head coach's behavior towards me was completely inappropriate and the staff needed to get on the same page," Murphy said in the report.

The player and his father eventually left the stadium. The player's father received a criminal trespass warning and was told by deputies not to come back to the property, according to the report.

The player's parent could not be reached for comment.

Correction: This story was updated to include that Sebring Local School District reinstated head coach Matt Seidel prior to the team's game last Friday. 

Reach Paige at 330-580-8577 or pmbennett@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @paigembenn.