When Todd Hoffner was reinstated as head coach of the Minnesota State football team, he might have presumed that his ordeal may be over. Hoffner was accused of child pornography in August 2012. Even though all charges were eventually dropped, Hoffner was reassigned and fired from the team last year. He eventually took a coaching position in January with Minot State, but after a judge ruled that he was wrongly fired, Hoffner decided to return to Minnesota State on Tuesday.
“I’m eager to return to the game and the program that I helped build,” Hoffner said Tuesday. “This is what I wanted from Day 1, and now I have the opportunity to go back, and I believe it’s the right thing to do for my family and myself.”
There is one problem with Hoffner’s return though. According to Larry Brown Sports, players on the Mankato team are boycotting practice because of the coaching change
Todd Hoffner’s return at Minnesota State-Mankato hits snag as players boycott practice. http://t.co/EXLP2JgPKNpic.twitter.com/vHWALpvMQi
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) April 16, 2014
The players have been under coach Aaron Keen since Hoffner’s arrest, and they are staying loyal to Keen.
“As a collective unit, we’ve all agreed that we will stick together and show our support in having Aaron Keen as the head football coach at Minnesota State University, Mankato,” junior safety Sam Thompson said in the statement.
Thompson continued: “We’ve all become outstanding community members, students and athletes in the last year and a half since the removal of Todd Hoffner. Throughout this process, we have been silent, it is time our voice is heard. We want information, we want answers, because this is our team. As a unit we have decided not to practice, because of the change-up in the coaching situation.”
The entire situation seems to have been handled poorly, and now Mankato is reaping what they sow.