Several players voice support for Shawnee Mission South football coach amidst turmoil

After eight senior starters for the Shawnee Mission South football team departed the program within the last week, several remaining players are voicing their support for head coach Brett Oberzan.

Oberzan kicked three players — Cameron Union, Kamau Kimaru and Cody Corbin — off the team after South’s 21-14 loss to Winnetonka last Thursday. On Tuesday, five other seniors quit the team, citing dissatisfaction with Oberzan’s coaching choices and their overall frustration with the program.

Many of the players still on the team, though, took to social media on Wednesday night to express positive sentiments for the coaching staff.

At least eight players, all sophomores, tweeted identical messages: “I love my coach.” The effect was compounded by all eight players re-tweeting each other.

In response to a story in The Star about the departures, Jack Roberts, a sophomore on the team, tweeted “Wait till our senior year, don’t count us out.”

At practice on Wednesday, only 24 players were in pads. Both Oberzan and Shawnee Mission South athletic director John Johnson have declined to comment on the eight departures.

Oberzan is in his second season at SM South, after previously serving as an assistant coach at Lawrence Free State. He led SM South to a 1-8 record last season.

On Friday, SM South, 0-3, will travel to Leavenworth for its latest Sunflower League matchup.

This story was originally published September 22, 2016 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Several players voice support for Shawnee Mission South football coach amidst turmoil."