Norwich Tech's football players stand by their coach on administrative leave

NORWICH, Conn. (WTNH) -- Norwich Tech's head football coach was put on administrative leave and the players are standing behind him, questioning if they want to play without him on the sidelines.

It wasn't game day for the varsity football players but they were in uniform today to show support for head coach Scott Cook.

Cook told News 8 he had a choice to resign or be fired. He didn't resign and said he was put on administrative leave on Thursday afternoon.

"They're kind of pulling the rug from underneath us," Senior, Matt Manavas, said. "It's tough."

Manavas said a fight last year between two players is one thing that led administrators to sideline the coach now.

The Saints are made up of players from Norwich Tech and St. Bernard School, where players protested by piling up their equipment outside the athletic director's office.

"Coach Cook, he's been a real inspiration to me and most importantly I respect him very much," Senior, Nick Sforza, said.

"We're going to be talking about it today at practice," Senior, Tucker Johns, said. "We're going to talk about it as a family. As a family together, we're going to talk about it."

The students still got on the bus headed to St. Bernard's for their scheduled practice and will be doing more than just talking about game play. The players aren't afraid to speak out and will talk about whether or not they want to play without this coach.

Coach Cook told News 8 this has been a very tough time for him as well and that at least one of his assistant coaches is expected to quit because of this decision.

The players have met with their school leaders to fight for their coach but the folks at Norwich Tech had no comment.