How did you get involved in coaching cheerleading?



I cheered all my life. Middle school, high school and college for four years.

What kind of a cheerleader were you in high school? Were you like the girls in the movie?



No, we were athletes. Where I went to high school, cheerleading was just like any other competitive sport.

You weren't that much older than the girls you were coaching. Do you think the situation would've been any different if you hadn't been so close to their age?



I was about 10 years older, so I don't think age played a factor. I was 26, and they were 16. It wasn't like I was 22 and fresh out of college.

When you came forward with this story, were you surprised by the way the community reacted to you? Or how big the story became?



No. I didn't expect a bunch of support. I didn't expect people to rally around me when I told them how dirty their school district was.

Were you surprised at how big the story became?



Yes, I was very surprised. I was shocked at how the media took it and ran. And I was even more surprised at how the media took it and twisted it into a "girls gone wild" kind of story when that wasn't at all what my story was about.

 

More "Fab Five"



What was your perspective on the story?



The media wanted to focus on the things that the girls had done wrong. And my fight the entire time was about what the adults did wrong. Kids will be kids, but the adults weren't being adults. These girls made lots of mistakes, but they were living up to the expectations that we as a high school, a school district and a community had set. Their mistakes were based on what they had been able to get away with for the past four years.

Is it true that you were actually close with some of the girls on the squad?



Yes, I was. I had a great relationship with almost all of them. That never really changed. The fight was never with the girls. It was with the administration that wouldn't let me discipline them. It wasn't as if these girls and I hated each other. It wasn't like that.

Do you have any updates on how any of the girls are doing now?



Not the "Fab Five," no. From what I've heard, most of the girls have gone off to college. Several of them are still cheering. I hear they're doing well.

Was it strange to walk onto the set and see people reenacting experiences from your life?



Yeah, it was weird. But it was cool to walk around and see people trying to remake our story. And it was awesome to go into a place where everyone was supportive of me. People on the set understood what the story was because they were reenacting it. It was great to be in a situation where there were so many people who understood what I was going through and supported me the way that they did.