School reinstates football coach who lost his job after praying on field

BREMERTON, Wash. (KING) - A man who lost his job after holding prayers on a high school football field is back to coaching.

Joe Kennedy successfully pleaded his case to the U.S. Supreme Court last year, prompting him to get his job back.

And this season, Kennedy has returned as an assistant coach on the Bremerton Knights, a high school football team in Washington state.

Kennedy’s contract was not renewed after he prayed with players on the field in 2015. The district told him to stop, but he refused.

He later sued the school district and the case reached the Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor that his prayers were protected under the First Amendment.

Kennedy was reinstated in March and back on the field for the first time Wednesday in eight years.

“It’s been a long road and many heartbreaking years, but it’s great that it’s finally worked out,” he said. “Everyone who has been supporting me and praying for me is what kept me going.”

The school district said it looks forward to moving past the legal distraction and that it will fully comply with the court’s order to treat Kennedy’s personal religious conduct the way the district treats all other personal conduct by coaches at football games.

“The lawsuit was only asking for two things. That I was to be able to be a coach and able to pray after a football game,” Kennedy said. “That’s what they’ve given back to me, and I’m looking forward to doing that.”