*sigh*

Alabama state champion coach and AD fired for being a member of the wrong church

One of the most successful coaches in the state of Alabama is suddenly out of a job after he was dismissed for what initially seems to be a remarkably trivial reason: He attends the wrong church.

As reported by the Montgomery Advertiser, Prattville (Ala.) East Memorial Christian Academy super coach Scott Phillips, who led the school’s football program to its first state playoff birth in years and coached the boys basketball team to the first state title in any sport, was dismissed because he refused to force his family to attend East Memorial Baptist Church.

While Phillips had never been forced to attend the school’s affiliated church when he was only a coach, that changed when he became the school’s athletic director. As confirmed by the Advertiser, East Memorial Christian Academy’s athletic director was expected to attend the East Memorial Baptist Church, even though there was allegedly not an official clause in the contract requiring such attendance.