Head High School Football Coach resigns after four years

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY)– Coach Dante Lombardi has resigned after four years being the head football coach at Ashley High School. He announced his departure at the team’s banquet, but the departure wouldn’t come without controversy.

Lombardi always preached the details during football practices.

“Doing the little things right, out the field or on the field. Continuing to do that, and bonding as a team,” said Lombardi.

Over his four years, he compiled a 21-25 record. On a post made on social media, Lombardi announced his departure. He said the decision came with mixed emotions.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the growth of our program during my time here. They say to leave a place better than you found it,” said Lombardi

Despite the words said by Lombardi, the parent of one player claim he created a culture of fear. In a statement sent to WWAY, the parent who want to remain anonymous, said “Our son was punched in the back of the head by the coach in charge of the football team. That is not tough coaching. It was a failure in leadership and goes far beyond the one moment that happened to be recorded.”

The parents say the recording was uploaded to the recruiting website HUDL but was later taken off the platform. The parents also claim that Lombardi apologized on the platform, but the damage was done. They claim their son had a breakdown after the incident.

Outraged, the parent filed a complaint to Ethics 360, an online resource to report concerns. Two weeks after that, the parent claimed they were interviewed by a human resource officer at the school district.

We reached out to Lombardi for a comment on the phone.

“I do not, nor know what that is,” said Lombardi.

This is the entire statement from the parent of the football player.

“We support strong coaching. Football is about discipline, accountability, and a lot of grind mentality. Coaches may need to have hard conversations with players, and that’s part of the process.

Our son was punched in the back of the head by the coach in charge of the football team.  That is not tough coaching.  It was failure in leadership and goes far beyond the one moment that happened to be recorded.

Our son’s playing football is over, but we hope that speaking up helps get the program back on track for future players. No kid should quietly endure physical or verbal abuse just to play a sport they love. Our son has a strong support system and great role models (including other coaches) in his life. Not every kid has that.”