Zephyrhills coach Reggie Roberts cleared to coach at Anclote on Friday

Posted Oct 13, 2011 by Mike Camunas

Updated Oct 13, 2011 at 03:49 PM

After three and a half days of investigation, Zephyrhills coach Reggie Roberts was cleared to coach at Anclote on Friday following a trespassing warning last week during the two teams’ JV football game.

Zephyrhills principal Steve Van Gordon was told Thursday afternoon that Roberts, who is also a Graduate Enhancement Teacher at Zephyrhills, would be allowed on Anclote campus, despite the trespassing warning that could result in an arrest if Roberts returned to the school grounds. However, assistant coach Robert Picket, who also received a trespassing warning, will not travel with the team, but does remain on the coaching staff.

Here’s the e-mail statement from Van Gordon:

“I was notified this afternoon that Employee Relations Department finished their inquiry into last weeks situation at Anclote High School Jv Football game. Coach Roberts will be coaching on the sideline for Zephyrhills High School this week when they take on Anclote High School Sharks. Coach Pickett will not be accompanying the team this week to Anclote but will continue to be a valued member of the coaching staff. We are glad this situation is over and the football staff can focus all their attention on Friday night’s game.”

According to a report from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Roberts and assistant coach Booker T. Pickett became “belligerent” with the SRO after she separated the Zephyrhills and Anclote coaches. Anclote principal Monica Isle then asked the SRO that Roberts and Pickett be “trespassed” from the school grounds. The also reports states that Pickett said, “This is bull—-. She is blowing the whole thing up.” The SRO advised Booker not to use foul language around students, but Booker then again said, “This is bull—-.”

The report goes on to say that Roberts stated, “I was a detective with Orange County,” threatened to call Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco and added, “We are coming back in two weeks.”

Zephyrhills (3-2, 3-0) travels to Anclote (1-4, 1-2) on Friday for a pivotal Class 5A-District 6 game for Zephyrhills, which has made a remarkable turnaround from last season’s 2-8 record and has won three-straight district games. Roberts, a Bulldogs linebacker from 1986-90 and former Orlando homicide detective, was brought in the spring of 2010 to revitalize the football program and replace Jerrell Cogmon, who was fired in August 2009 on the heels of a recruiting investigation that led to a season in limbo with interim co-coaches Troy Hochstetler and Greg Mathis.

Correspondent Mike Camunas can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or follow him on Twitter @MikeCamunasTrib.

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