Franklin coach resigns

(From the Associated Press)

A Stockton high school football coach resigned Thursday amid accusations that he was involved in improperly recruiting players from American Samoa.

Franklin High School's head coach Tom Verner sent in his resignation letter to the Stockton Unified School District after local sports authorities dealt the school's football program the so-called "death penalty," a sanction that will ban students from playing football until 2010.

That is believed to be the harshest punishment in the history of the high school sport, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Local sports authorities allege an assistant football coach working for Verner improved the team's standing by improperly recruiting more than a dozen players from American Samoa and offering them housing in Stockton, 50 miles south of Sacramento.

The California Interscholastic Federation's Sac-Joaquin Section initially said the school would have to forfeit 19 victories for the past three seasons and would be banned from competing in the playoffs through the 2011 season.

Last week, when the school violated an order to bench three players from American Samoa, authorities shut down the program for this season and the next two seasons.

"These kids presented proper credentials and just like any kid who walked in the door we educated them," said Principal Scott Luhn. "This penalizes and is harmful to too many kids."

State Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Thousand Oaks, called Wednesday for a legislative hearing to look into the powers granted to the federation, which oversees high school sports in the state.

Verner said Thursday he hoped his resignation would help the school's standing with officials.

"Hopefully, the CIF will say, 'Verner's not there any more,' and maybe they'll reduce the sanctions," Verner told KCRA-3 in Sacramento.