Cary-Grove High School principal Neil Lesinski released a statement on social media Tuesday apologizing for the “Fire Nagy” chants that his school’s student section delivered during its Class 6A state semifinal game against Lake Forest on Saturday.
Bears coach Matt Nagy has a son that plays on Lake Forest’s football team.
“I want to assure our community that the chant was not acceptable nor appropriate and was immediately addressed by administration at the game,” Lesinski wrote. “We also felt it was important to meet with our student superfans that lead our chants and cheers and talk to them about what happened and give them an opportunity to reflect and correct their actions.”
According to one Lake Forest football player the team has heard the chant at all of its games this season. Matt Nagy was in attendance at the football game in Cary-Grove on Saturday. He says he didn’t hear the chant.
“When I’m in the role I’m in you have to be able to understand where people are coming from and how they react or don’t react,” Nagy said. “I was there to watch my son play a football game. I was there to be a dad. It was a pretty cool time.”
The incident gained exposure when the short clip was cut from the online broadcast of the game and posted on Twitter.
Below is a statement regarding the recent Cary-Grove vs. Lake Forest 6A high school football game: pic.twitter.com/cUjUfJduDk
— Cary-Grove H.S. (@CaryGroveHS) November 23, 2021
High-profile athletes have been the target of student section chants for decades. Jalen Brunson, currently with the Dallas Mavericks, faced such intense chants during his senior year that Stevenson High School had security with him at road games.
Cary-Grove will play East St. Louis in the Class 6A state championship game on Saturday.
