SAN MARCOS, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — Long-time Mission Hills High School head football coach and two assistants are under investigation for a reason the district isn’t releasing while it’s ongoing.
An email was sent to the families of the football team informing them that Chris Hauser, along with assistants Thomas Altieri and Edward Nuckols, is on paid administrative leave.
The San Marcos Sheriff’s Station told FOX 5/KUSI it is investigating an incident at Mission Hills High School, but said because this is an active investigation involving juveniles, no other information is being released.
The news comes as the football team is off to a 4-0 start under the coaching staff.
“If they don’t have a very steady, consistent assistant to kind of take that program over, it could kind of derail, you know, a season and how that season is going,” said Chris Fore, Eight Laces Consulting.
Fore prepares coaches with resources to be successful on the field and land their dream jobs through his consulting business Eight Laces Consulting.
The email says DJ Zapata is the interim coach.
Fore estimated that an investigation like this could take anywhere from days to three or four months.
“So what an investigation entails is usually site administrator, somebody at the high school who is going to interview as many students and staff members as possible to paint a very clear picture of what happened, perhaps some parents, if parents might be involved in the situation or it could be a district person coming to conduct the investigation,” he explained.
Fore added that sometimes an outside investigator is brought in.
The email went on to explain the priority is the safety and wellbeing of students.
While the investigation is ongoing, Fore offers students impacted by the investigation advice.
“In some ways a team needs to bond together more at that time. We need the team leaders to step up more at that time to really grasp on to whoever is leading that program to have their back, to follow their lead. In order for a team to keep having the same success it had early in the season. That’s what we need,” Fore said.
The district said it is taking steps to ensure stability within the football program and to provide continued support for student-athletes.
The team’s next home game is on Oct. 3.
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