Discipline Announced for Coach in Football Hazing Probe

Wallingford native Chris Eckert, the head football coach of the Cromwell/Portland co-op team, received a one-week, unpaid suspension following an investigation by the Cromwell Public School district into allegations of hazing, GameTimeCT reports.

The suspension is in effect from Sept. 8 to Sept. 15 and Eckert will miss the team’s season opener.

Sean Patrick Bowley reports that in the investigation, which was done in collaboration with Cromwell Police and the state’s Department of Children and Families, Superintendent of Schools Paula M. Talty said Eckert was “negligent in his supervision of student-athletes in the locker room. Coach Eckert cooperated fully with our investigation and he has taken full responsibility for his failure to provide appropriate supervision in this case.”

NBC Connecticut reports that it received emails from parents, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation against their children, that Cromwell football players were hazing teammates in the boys’ locker room.

The unnamed parents told NBC that one senior lined up freshmen and hit them with a belt, while others blocked the doors and windows and turned off the lights.

NBC reports that a juvenile has been arrested in connection to the case, citing a source within the police department.

Eckert, 33, graduated from Sheehan High School in 2000 and played football there before moving on to Southern Connecticut State University, according to the Meriden Record-Journal. He became Cromwell’s head coach in 2011.

Read more about the suspension ruling at GameTimeCT.com here.