Super Bowl champion Eric Weddle started coaching high school football at Rancho Bernardo in California shortly after he retired from the NFL in 2022. However, the 40-year-old former safety was suspended on Friday because of the actions of his assistant.
Weddle himself did not do anything wrong.
It seems as though the suspension stemmed from a violation of national high school football rules. He was forced to serve the punishment because it is his program as the head coach.
Eric Weddle is an NFL legend.
Weddle was twice named as the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006. He was also named as a consensus All-American as a senior.
His impressive college career at Utah led him to be drafted No. 37 overall in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers.
Weddle spent the majority of his career with the Chargers. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound safety also played three years with the Baltimore Ravens and won a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams after head coach Sean McVay convinced him to come out of retirement.
Happy Birthday to Eric Weddle who is a
— ChargersMuse (@ChargersMuse) January 4, 2025
— 6× Pro Bowler
— 2× First-Team All-Pro
— 3× Second-Team All-Pro
— NFL Interceptions Co-Leader
— NFL 2010s All-Decade Team
— San Diego Chargers 50th Anniversary Team
— San Diego Chargers 60th Anniversary Team
Stud! 💪 pic.twitter.com/LosnGzRQFX
In addition to the ring, Weddle was twice named as a First-team All-Pro, thrice named as a Second-team All-Pro, made six Pro Bowls, led the NFL in interceptions in 2011 and earned a spot on the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. Needless to say, he knows ball.
Thus, Rancho Bernardo High School decided to give him a chance as head coach in 2022. The Broncos went 5-6 in year one, 6-6 in year two, and 9-3 in year three.
Even though they were finally starting to win, more than three dozen players either quit the team or transferred out of the school between January and August. Weddle had just 38 players on his team for the first game of his fourth season as head coach.
Despite the roster challenges, Rancho Bernardo is off off to a 5-0 start in 2025 after an overtime win over San Diego on Friday. And it won without their head coach!
Why was the California high school football coach suspended?
Eric Weddle announced his absence from the sideline just a few hour prior to kickoff. He claimed the suspension stemmed from the behavior of his assistant last weekend.
“It’s really unfortunate that I’m not coaching tonight for my kids. The [California Interscholastic Federation, Southern Section] suspended me from my assistants mishap on sideline with refs at West Covina. I did nothing wrong. How does that make sense. My boys will respond, they are united, connected and motivated! #themighty38”
Neither he nor the school nor the CIF provided any additional clarity about what happened. It seemed unfair to suspend the head coach for the actions of his assistant.
Upon further review, the suspension probably came down from the national level.
First and foremost, if Weddle was suspended by the CIF, the ruling likely came from the San Diego Section— not the Southern Section. Even though it played a Southern Section school (West Covina) when the aforementioned incident occurred, Rancho Bernardo falls under the jurisdiction of the former, not the latter.
It also seems like this suspension was caused by a violation of NFHS rules. The National Federation of State High School Associations sets the national bylaws for high school sports.
According to its Football Rules Book, the head coach “shall be penalized” for two sideline infractions by any player, coach or fan from the same team. He or she will serve a one-game suspension as penalty.
That appears to be what happened here but we do not know for certain. All we know is that Eric Weddle was not allowed to coach high school football during the Broncos’ overtime win on Friday.