Baseball coach resigns after Bible verse on cap draws complaint - WTOC-TV: Savannah, Beaufort, SC, News, Weather & Sports

Controversy is swirling in Effingham County over baseball hats.

The Ebenezer Middle School baseball team had the bible verse Philippians 4:13 embroidered on the back of their caps but it drew at least one complaint. The coach is no longer with the team.

It all transpired Wednesday, but the news took Facebook by storm Thursday night, exploding with speculation. Was the coach fired? Was he forced to resign?

The Effingham County Board of Education would only say coach Kyle Houston, a physical education teacher at Ebenezer Middle School, was not fired or terminated, but did voluntarily resign as baseball coach. He is still working as a physical education teacher at the school.

However, the word of the district was not enough to fan the flames of controversy on the internet or in the community.

So, WTOC went straight to the man at the center of the controversy, coach Houston himself.

"I appreciate everything everyone has said, supporting the Philippians 4:13, but it was something where I overstepped my bounds, not doing what I was supposed to. I have to follow protocol. I violated that. It wasn't my intention," Houston told WTOC at the school Friday afternoon. "My intention was to encourage the kids."

Houston told WTOC the verse on the cap was the idea of three of his 8th grade players. The Philippians 4:13 verse means "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

In the last few years, football star Tim Tebow has made the verse even more popular during his college football and NFL career.

Houston says he really liked the idea his players came up with, embraced it and everyone on the team approved adding the verse to the team cap. This was Houston's second year coaching the middle school baseball team and he thought the verse was a nice touch.

However, Houston admits he made the mistake of not getting approval first from school principal Amy Dickinson, and then came at least one complaint about the verse.

Wednesday, the situation came to a head. He says, rather than be a distraction for his team, he decided it was time to resign. He insists he was not fired or forced to resign. It was all his decision.

"I wasn't fired as a teacher. I wasn't asked to resign. I voluntarily did that because I didn't want it to hurt or interfere with the kids or things that were going on," Houston said. "Of course I let the kids down because I was looking forward to coaching the season. It's a let down but it was something that needed to be done."

Houston said he had no regrets, despite a large swell of support from the community.

The school is still looking for a new coach for the team. The district says the hats cannot be worn since they violate separation of church and state and new hats will have to be ordered.