A high school football coach in Spokane, Washington has been suspended by school officials after allegedly exposing himself to several players during a team trip last summer, The Spokesman-Review reported Sunday.
Ferris High School football coach Jim Sharkey took his team to a leadership camp last summer. During the trip, several of his players claimed the coach was grilling hot dogs when he turned to them with his exposed penis placed inside a hot dog bun.
“You think that is a big dog — take a look at this,” Sharkey told them, according to school records listing a variety of versions of that same quote.
A few weeks after the camp, one of the players came forward with the allegations against his coach. After Sharkey denied the claim, calling it a “complete lie” and “absolutely false,” he was reprimanded but allowed to stay on as coach of the team.
Sharkey coached for the entire fall football season before more players claimed to have seen the hot dog incident, as well as other inappropriate behavior. School officials placed the 50-year-old coach and fitness teacher on administrative leave with pay on Feb. 1.
School officials addressed the investigation on Friday after The Spokesman-Review requested the release of public documents, but they have refused to talk about the incident or the investigation.
Sharkey is continuing to deny all accusations and plans to fight to clear his name from the allegations, but would not comment on the investigation either.
“They have not given me a timeline,” Sharkey said of the investigation. “But they have been specific that I can’t comment on anything until the investigation is done. When this is done, I’ll be happy to talk about my teaching and coaching affairs.”