Hundreds of parents start petition to keep head football coach after recruiting sanctions hit Karns High School

What This Story Is About

• Families have started a petition calling on the district to keep Coach Lee Warren at Karns High.

What Happens Next

• Warren’s future with the team is uncertain. Families who want him to stay say their reasons go beyond football.
• Parents said they were told a decision will come by Nov. 4. KCS officials said they are unsure about the timeline.

KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. (WVLT) - Hundreds of families are showing support for Karns High School head football coach Lee Warren after the school received recruiting sanctions. Families have started a petition calling on the district to keep him at Karns High.

Warren’s future with the team is uncertain. Families who want him to stay say their reasons go beyond football.

Kathy Irwin, a Karns parent, said Friday nights are a big part of her family’s week. Her son, Nathan, has special needs. He does not play in the games, but he wears a football jersey on Fridays with other players.

“To see my son loved and included by those football players and the coaches is priceless to me,” Irwin said.

Irwin said Warren is the person who makes Nathan feel included. She said Warren also shows support away from the field.

“I’ll never forget, it meant so much to me, last year after a big loss they had. It was, you know, everybody was devastated. The next morning, my son had a special Olympics event and Coach Warren shows up at it,” Irwin said.

The TSSAA investigated the program. Karns received a postseason ban and fines of thousands of dollars. Warren was suspended for one week for recruiting violations. Karns will be on probation next season.

Some parents want Warren to stay despite the sanctions.

“We’re a family. And I feel like as a family, if something happens to one of your own, you get behind them and you back them,” said Melissa Speight, a Karns parent.

Speight handed out signs at the game Warren was suspended for. The signs asked the district and school leaders to keep him.

“He has a community around him, not just parents of football players. There’s other parents. There’s other community members that are backing him staying at Karns,” Speight said.

Officials with KCS said it is up to Karns leadership to decide whether Warren stays or goes.

Parents said they met with Karns school leaders Monday night to make their case for keeping Warren. They said they are unsure whether school leaders will take it into account.

Parents said they were told a decision will come by Nov. 4. KCS officials said they are unsure about the timeline.