When Greensburg Community High School’s varsity football team takes the field against arch rival Batesville tonight it will be without its head coach.

Wednesday afternoon, coach Eric Schreiber resigned from his position with the football team as well as the school citing “family and personal reasons,” according to Assistant Superintendent Dr. Dennis Goldberg. The school corporation, however, was not willing to comment, he said, on the allegations swirling around the abrupt leave of a its coach during the middle of a successful football season.

Schreiber, however, elaborated on his reasons for stepping down.

“I do have family issues going on. I made a bad choice in some words I sent to a student that involved cuss words,” Schreiber said via telephone from his home Thursday evening.

According to Schreiber, he had been texting a female student whom he had contact with as a coach and teacher at the school. He wanted it made clear “nothing criminal” or inappropriate took place between the two, merely a lack of judgment in the words he chose in a recent text message sent to the girl. As an educator, he noted, he had always tried to help students with their personal problems, especially when shared in confidence. Schreiber said one of his roles at the school was to offer guidance.

“Some kids come to you with their problems. Sometimes those conversations are more than parents want to know or acknowledge, but these are problems that kids deal with everyday,” Schreiber said. “I was just trying to help. It’s something I think anyone would have done for their daughter or employer. I always had the best interest of the students and the school in mind.”

The text, in which he did not offer details, was a momentary lapse, he said. When school officials and the superintendent found out about it, Schreiber said he didn’t hide anything.

“They asked me, and I explained everything that had happened,” he said.

The incident sparked an immediate executive session meeting of the Greensburg Community School Board members, which by law are in charge of the hiring, firing and disciplinary actions for faculty and staff of their schools. Schreiber said he told the five people on the board whom he’d “never met” the same story and they offered him two options - administrative action involving an investigation or his resignation.

“The situation I put myself in, I was vulnerable. They don’t know me, and they saw me as a problem. They just saw me as a risk,” Schreiber said.

He said he offered the resignation because he felt he was candid with the board and did not wish to put the school or the team through any administrative process. Despite the outcome, Schreiber said he did not fault the school or corporation officials and felt much respect for GCHS principal Phil Chapple as well as Superintendent Tom Hunter and Goldberg.

“The superintendent’s office has been very supportive and understanding as well as the school administration. This was pretty much out of their hands at this point,” he said.

The resignation sent a lightning bolt of shock through much of the student body of GCHS where Schreiber was a popular teacher and coach who had a record 25-23 in four years at the school. Thursday morning, many students held a peaceful but expressive protest and called for the coach’s return. According to sources within the schools, the protest was never out of hand, and the school allowed students to gather in the auditorium to express their opinions and share their emotions. Signs marked a number of cars throughout the GCHS parking lot in Schreiber’s honor. Goldberg noted the corporation didn’t have any intentions of stifling this show of emotions as long as it stayed constructive.

“We’re in the business of educating children and providing opportunities for different things. We try not to squelch their desire to express their opinions as long as it doesn’t become disruptive to the educational process,” Goldberg said.

By lunchtime Thursday, it was business as usual at the school. The only sign a protest had occurred were the cars in the parking lot. However, a non-violent demonstration and rally was planned to begin 5:30 this morning and last until the first bell.