Football coach who won Supreme Court case to pray on field quits after first prayer

The Washington state football coach who convinced the Supreme Court his on-field prayers after games were constitutionally protected has quit his job after his first prayer back on the field after a game in eight years.

Bremerton High School assistant coach Joe Kennedy fought for seven years to be rehired after the school district put him on leave and declined to renew his contract, fearing the prayers would subject it to legal liability for endorsing religion.

He said he was unsure whether he would keep the job soon after announcing his pending return to the field, worrying that people would "freak out that I'm bringing God back into public schools.

“The district has received Mr. Kennedy’s resignation and it is pending board approval at tomorrow’s regularly scheduled meeting,” Bremerton School District spokesperson Karen Bevers told the Seattle Times, which said Wednesday that it obtained Kennedy's letter.

“It is apparent that the reinstatement ordered by the Supreme Court will not be fully followed after a series of actions meant to diminish my role and single me out in what I can only believe is retaliation by the school district," he wrote in the letter, without elaborating on the actions, according to the Times.

Multiple other news agencies on Wednesday also reported the resignation. 

Kennedy has since moved to Florida and is returning because of "newly learned complications related to a family member’s declining health," the Times also reports, citing the letter.

No students joined Kennedy in on-field prayer at Friday's game under a new district policy that lets coaches pray on the field when not actively supervising players, as long as they start prayers at a distance from the students, according to the Times.