CORRECTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE TO THIS ARTICLE AS OF 10:30am on 9/10/14:

A letter degrading North’s football team was found (according to the note attached to the letter) in a locker room. Head coach Sean Quinlan, via U.S. Mail, received this letter a few days after the Lincoln vs. North game. We apologize to Lincoln High School for not accurately stating the fact that the letter was mailed to North; it was not found in the visitor’s locker room.  The sender is unknown and we made assumptions that the letter was actually found at North High based on the note attached to the letter. 

The letter itself states: “Apathy, laziness and non-committal nature have been a constant pedigree of their players and fans.”

Tim Turner, Captain of North’s football team, has worked all summer for this season.

“It’s disrespectful and rude. The fact that someone would even go to that low of a level is pathetic. Not only pathetic, but how stupid of them to type it,” said Turner.

Year after year, North has stumbled upon losing seasons, but things turned around after Major Quinlan signed on as head coach in 2014.

North may not have a winning record, but Quinlan brought hope and respect to the students and faculty at North High. His speech before the Lincoln game mentioned how much he believes in his team.

“There comes a time in your life you have to stand up for who you are and what you represent…” he said. “Shake each others’ hands; tell each other you love them. I don’t care if you’re black, white, or Vietnamese. Come on, let’s go. I believe.”

Commitment from the coach is important, but a successful team is also based on hard work, dedication and integrity from the players as well.

As the news quickly spread from coaches, administration and students, the Bears’ Den has been filled with chaos. Questions and comments have been asked such as, “Who wrote this?” The letter just shows how much the person who wrote this actually knows about North’s coach, which is little.

“Now they have a new coach, and the excitement is everywhere on the north side. The Des Moines Register even had a story about them. What about us? Were we included in the paper? No! We all know what that means. Nothing. In fact, their coach has never coached a game of football in his life.” The anonymous note says.

Not only has Quinlan coached football for eight years, but he has also led others into battle while serving his country for 27 years and is now successfully leading the North High JROTC program.

He has brought hope and respect to the students and faculty of the North High population and is now trying to earn other schools’ and teams’ respect.

“We will out scheme, out coach, out play these people from the get go. They cannot compete with us and surely cannot beat us,” read the note further.

Before the Lincoln game on August 29, Quinlan in his speech to pump up his players, spoke about respecting the other team.

“We respect them because they are another team that has worked hard and we don’t fear them,” he said.

Later questioned about the letter, Andy Campbell, Lincoln head football coach, commented through email on this “unfortunate letter.”

“I can assure you it didn’t come from our program… Again, I can’t speak on that letter and we went through the locker room to make sure things were picked up and didn’t see that when we left,” Campbell stated.

Campbell also wishes North a good year.

“We are rooting for you guys and hoping you are able to turn the program around as it will be an uphill climb,” he said.