'It was their decision': Former Brockton football coach Wiggins 'shocked' about departure

BROCKTON — Former Brockton High School football coach Jermaine Wiggins has spoken out about his departure from the head coach role after only one season at the helm.

In a segment on WEEI's The Greg Hill Show on Wednesday morning, Wiggins said it was not his decision to step down, despite a district spokesperson saying last week that Wiggins "informed the district that he would be resigning from his role as the BHS football coach."

"It was their decision, not me," Wiggins said on the Wednesday radio show, his first cohost appearance since the news of his departure.

The reason for Wiggins leaving

Wiggins said it came down to him not being a union member in the Brockton Education Association.

More:Ex-Patriots player Jermaine Wiggins out as Brockton High football coach. What we know

"There had been some complaints about me not being in the union and they chose to go in a different direction," he said. "I was stunned my damn self. I was like, all right, I'm not going to cry over spilled milk. If some people are complaining about me not being a union guy and everything like that, I mean ... I feel bad for the kids."

The Brockton Education Association contract states preference for coaching positions “shall be given to a Unit B Member when a Unit B Member has equal or greater qualifications than another applicant.” Unit B includes most “professional employees” of the Brockton School Department.

It’s unclear if there was another applicant for the coaching job. The contract also dictates that the head football coach should have made $15,339 this September, but it’s unclear if Wiggins was paid per the contract. 

Brockton Public Schools deficit plays a role

Wiggins suggested that the tone changed in part due to the district's discovery of a $14.4 million deficit for fiscal year 2023 that now appears to be closer to $20 million. He said the person who hired him had been defending him for being a non-union member but that person was "let go" because of the overspending saga. It wasn't immediately clear who hired Wiggins.

More:Brockton councilors partially bail out school deficit as figure reaches nearly $20 million

"Once he got let go, then any real, real connection to being able to make moves, that ultimately went out the window," Wiggins said. "I feel bad more for the kids than anything. Me, I'll land on my feet, I'll be fine, I'm not worried about that."

Wiggins' history and next steps

Wiggins, a former New England Patriots tight end who had a standout career at East Boston High, was hired in the spring to replace Peter Colombo, who retired after 20 seasons coaching Brockton High football. He had no prior coaching experience at that time.

"I was surprised, I was shocked," Wiggins said on The Greg Hill Show. "It was crazy because we had our plan all together for the offseason program. That's what we were doing. We had everything – coaches, staff, everything – figured out."

Wiggins said he still plans to help out some of the players who were being recruited for college football. He said he loved the kids and his experience coaching the team, but that he doesn't plan to pursue any other coaching gigs at this time.

"There's too much politics involved for me," he said. "I thought it's all about helping the kids, but it is what it is."

Wiggins said there's a specific coach already on the Brockton High staff that he'd like to see take over for him, but he's also not a union member, so he doesn't think it will happen. He did not name that coach.

What is the union saying?

The Enterprise reached out to Kimberly Gibson, the president of the Brockton Education Association, on Wednesday evening regarding the union's stance, but a call was not immediately returned.

Wiggins had high hopes for 2024 team

Wiggins said he had been excited for the 2024 season due to the team being young.

"The culture was changing, the standard was changing, all that stuff was changing," he said. "I know our record wasn't where we wanted to be, but we had a freshman quarterback who was evolving. So, we were headed in the right direction. … A lot of our kids were younger kids, so we were gonna be loaded next year. But, like I said, I can't do nothing about it. Once that's the direction they chose, they chose it."

Enterprise senior reporter Cody Shepard can be reached by email at cshepard@enterprisenews.com.