Coach fired after rejecting baseball recruit due to marijuana laws: 'It was a dumb email'

Chris Cwik
·Staff writer
·2 min read

Former Texas Wesleyan baseball coach Mike Jeffcoat didn’t last long after rejecting a recruit for questionable reasons. Jeffcoat was let go by the school a day after an email in which Jeffcoat rejected a recruit in Colorado over the state’s marijuana laws went viral.

If he had to do it all over again, Jeffcoat admits he would not have sent the email, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Let me say first of all, it was a dumb email. I shouldn’t have sent it. I probably sent that out of frustration from over the years of losing people to drug tests. I get three, four or five emails a day from people interested in coming to Texas Wesleyan. I try to send a general ‘hey we got tryout dates in May and June. Come down so we can take a look at you and see if we can offer you anything. In 17 years, I’ve never had a high school player come down from the state of Colorado.

As Jeffcoat explains, the school likely didn’t have the funds for the player to visit the school, and that threw him off. Combine that with his frustrations over losing other players to drug-related suspensions, and Jeffcoat admits he screwed up.

In Jeffcoat’s email, he told the student the school was not recruiting players from Colorado due to its marijuana laws. The drug is legal in the state. Jeffcoat said the recruit should, “Thank your liberal politicians.”

As for the “liberal politicians” line, Jeffcoat said he would like to have that one back, too. He blames some liberal politicians for passing the law, but not all of them. Jeffcoat made it clear he’s opposed to the legalization of marijuana.

Jeffcoat is hoping to get back into coaching once this situation with Texas Wesleyan gets sorted out.

The college coach who rejected a recruit based on marijuana laws has some regrets about sending that email. (AP Photo)
The college coach who rejected a recruit based on marijuana laws has some regrets about sending that email. (AP Photo)

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik