Western coach resigns after incident
Jeff Schouela

Mustang Head Coach Larry Haylor, who was suspended last week for two games by Western, stepped down for the rest of the season because of problems within the Mustang football team.

The problems started at Western's Homecoming a few weeks ago, when a freshman on the football team was put in charge of protecting the stadium. It is a tradition that Engineering students write their class year on the field.

The freshman made sure that this wouldn't happen as he ran over an Engineering student on the field with a car. The student narrowly escaped with his life and the freshman football player, not identified yet, will be charged with the crime.

Since he is officially in charge of the players, Coach Haylor was suspended for two games following the incident. On Monday, Haylor, who has been the Head Coach for 24 years, stepped down for the remainder of the season and the football team was put under probation.

"This is truly a serious issue," said Haylor. "99.9% of the time our players carry themselves with class and re-spect, but it's the odd event that ruins everything and this issue should be dealt with seriously.

"The Head Coach is ultimately responsible for what occurs on and off the field," added Haylor. "Responsibility ultimately comes from the top."

Bob LaRose will take over as the interim Head Coach. The team certainly did not show signs of letting up without Haylor as Western crushed Guelph 46-8 in their last game.

"Coach LaRose will have a positive effect on the players. Hopefully the players will be wise enough to understand the difference between right and wrong," said Haylor. "I'm proud of how our players are handling this. I don't ex-pect our results on the field to change." "Orientations are part of the university life. They're a part of family, clubs and sports teams. But there's a certain code of conduct that must be respected," said Haylor. "It's all a matter of good judgement and proper values. However there are always some exceptions and they can't be forgotten."

"Things are going to change a little. Freshmen aren't going to be isolated as much anymore. Everyone is going to carry the equipment to and from practices. Other jobs that were previously handled by rookies will now be dealt with by everyone," discussed Haylor about team unity.

Haylor is still going to be involved with the team, but not in a football capacity. He will implement discussions with the players on team initiations and try to be a moralistic leader for the team.

Western currently sits in first place in the Ontario University Athletics and is ranked number one in the CIAU. Their first playoff opponent will most likely be the McMaster Marauders.