Fired Venice High football coach John Peacock blasts Braden River's Curt Bradley after being dismissed

A few months after winning the Class 7A state championship, Venice High has fired head football coach John Peacock.

The firing stems from an incident with Braden River coach Curt Bradley.

The two coaches are rivals in 7A-District 11 and have represented the area deep into the playoffs the past three seasons.

Bradley penned an email to Peacock on Friday, which was copied to Manatee and Sarasota county school officials, regarding a social media post by a Venice player that Bradley said "crossed a line."

The social media post involved a photo of a spray tan bottle and was directed at Bradley with the question asking if that's what he used.

Peacock "liked" the post, which has since been deleted on Twitter.

Bradley, who said in the email that he is multi-racial, took screenshots of the tweet and attached the images to his email that alleged Peacock was "encouraging racial jokes and racism among your players."

Bradley's email came the same day the Florida High School Athletic Association levied multiple sanctions against Braden River's football program for multiple illegal practices prior to the start of spring football, which began Monday.

The FHSAA banned Braden River from spring practice and canceled the Pirates' spring game at Immokalee High. They were fined $1,600, charged with finding a replacement opponent for Immokalee and both athletic director Matt Nesser and Bradley are forced to attend compliance seminars the next two years.

Braden River was also placed on probation for the next school year, with any additional policy violations resulting in paying the remaining balance of the total fine, which was levied at $40,000.

Peacock issued a statement about his firing and took shots at Bradley.

"I'm appalled at Coach Bradley('s) desperate attempt to exploit today's racial tension to distract from the disgrace he has brought to his program," Peacock wrote. "This has happened because I was the coach that finally stood up and exposed Coach Bradley for cheating in order to protect the integrity of high school football. I knew this could be an outcome of that decision, and I was willing to accept that. As sad and unfortunate as it is, it was the right thing to do and I would do it again."

Peacock was suspended from spring football last year for recruiting allegations brought forth by North Port High, and the Indians were forced to vacate their nine victories from the 2009 season after several FHSAA rules violations.

Peacock's statement in full:

"After 19 years of coaching football for Venice High School, I am sad to announce that I was fired today. I was let go due to my strong passion for Venice HS and how I handled the latest situation with Braden River HS.

I 'liked' a tweet that one of players put on social media about Braden River Head Coach Curt Bradley and a spray tan bottle. I thought this to be a joke about him using spray tan, I had no clue he was multi-racial. I did not come out publicly to defend myself when this occurred, because I was asked not to. Nothing was intended to be racist.

I'm appalled at Coach Bradley('s) desperate attempt to exploit today's racial tension to distract from the disgrace he has brought to his program," Peacock wrote. "This has happened because I was the coach that finally stood up and exposed Coach Bradley for cheating in order to protect the integrity of high school football. I knew this could be an outcome of that decision, and I was willing to accept that. As sad and unfortunate as it is, it was the right thing to do and I would do it again.

I would like to thank all the past and current players, coaches, parents and proud supporters of Venice High Football. Venice HS administration will find a solid replacement for this position as Venice is one of the premier programs in the state of Florida. Once again, thank you to everyone who has been involved. I will always be an Indian!!!!!"

In Bradley's email to Peacock, he wrote, "Your locker room comments of 'how Coach Bradley uses spray tan to obtain his skin color,' had come to my attention a while ago."

Later in the email, Bradley wrote: "Because you are so curious, I come from a multi-racial background and am extremely proud of this. My grandparents were on the front line of the Civil Rights Movement. Sadly, they, as well as my parents, lived through many injustices dealt to them from ignorance. I am proud that as a nation we have made great progress in terms of prejudice and intolerance to those different than us, nevertheless I feel it my duty to not remain silent when someone tries to make light of this."

By the end of the email, Bradley wrote: "It is my understanding that you had been instructed to remove these tweets days ago. While thankfully those have been deleted from social media, it is disturbing to know they will never be erased from the minds of your players and those who read your social media."

Assistant coach Larry Shannon takes over as Venice's interim head coach.

Messages seeking comment from Bradley and Braden River High principal Sharon Scarborough were not returned Wednesday.

This story was originally published April 25, 2018 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Fired Venice High football coach John Peacock blasts Braden River's Curt Bradley after being dismissed."