JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Menendez won its football game and lost its head coach.
The Falcons parted ways with Kenny Sanchez on Friday, an abrupt end to one of the biggest coaching hires of the offseason. Sanchez led Menendez (1-1) to a 28-3 win at Gainesville Eastside Thursday night.
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Separate sources told News4Jax that his dismissal stemmed from a heated verbal confrontation between a parent, Sanchez and athletic director/offensive coordinator Patrick Turner that followed Menendez’s victory over Eastside.
“Following the events that occurred after Thursday night’s football game, Pedro Menendez High School Administration made the decision to relieve Coach Sanchez from his duties as a teacher and coach at Pedro Menendez High School,” the district said in a statement Monday afternoon.
Since Sanchez was still in his one-year probationary period, he could “be dismissed without cause or may resign without breach of contract.”
Sanchez did not sign his termination letter.
The school board will vote on the recommendation to fire Sanchez during its meeting on Oct. 13.
Sanchez’s hiring was a stunner.
He was hired at Menendez in June and came with credentials like no other. Sanchez coached Las Vegas private school powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Nevada and had a 65-8 record, four consecutive state titles and a pair of USA Today national championships on his resume. Menendez won its first district title in its 20-year history last season under coach Kyle Skipper.
Skipper left in the offseason for a job out of state. When Turner came across Sanchez’s resume, he said that he couldn’t believe it.
If the move to hire him was surprising, Sanchez’s dismissal after just two games — and following a victory — was just as surprising.