Silverado fires baseball coach Brian Whitaker via email
Brian Whitaker was Silverado High’s first baseball coach when the school opened in the 1994-95 school year.
On Monday, Whitaker received an email saying he was being fired after 26 seasons at the school.
“I had every intention to keep coaching,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker is the second-winningest baseball coach in Nevada high school history. He was 505-322 at Silverado and won a state championship there in 2000. Prior to his stint at Silverado, he coached at Valley for three seasons and has a career record of 562-350.
Whitaker’s brother, Barry, was an assistant for 27 of those seasons, and he was Silverado’s athletic director until being reassigned via voicemail May 29. He was moved from teaching physical education to a class called freshman studies.
Barry Whitaker declined to comment, and efforts to contact Silverado principal Jamie Ditto and assistant principal David Bickmore for comment were unsuccessful. Brian Whitaker declined to offer details about his firing, but he said that neither he nor his brother was given a reason for the changes and that this is the 14th coaching change in this administration’s three-year tenure.
He’s been more vocal on Twitter, where he first announced that he had been let go.
“Did my level best to protect the SHS players from being bullied, intimidated and treated as pawns,” Brian Whitaker wrote on Twitter. “Had to be done. Have to walk the talk!”
Silverado was placed in Class 4A in the most recent realignment, and Brian Whitaker sent an email asking the administration to consider appealing to move up to the new 5A. He said he received a response saying Silverado will not appeal.
Brian Whitaker said he would have happily coached the Skyhawks in 4A, but the rejection represented “one piece of a lack of support.”
He said the support he’s received from current and former players has been overwhelming, and he leaves Silverado with no regrets.
“This isn’t about me. I’ve been celebrated enough by people who have contacted me,” Brian said. “I have nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of. I love the kids. There is no way this is going to ruin my memories. … I have way too many fond memories, and this can’t ruin that.”
Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.
