CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Tenn. — School documents revealed more about the former head football coach of Claiborne High School after three students on the football team were charged as juveniles for aggravated rape in an "incident" at the school's football camp.
WBIR 10News obtained Claiborne High School head coach Nathan Medlin's personnel file on Monday. It showed he resigned as a coach on Aug. 5, and later resigned from his teaching role on Aug. 13 after being placed on suspension without pay.
"This decision was not made lightly, but after a lot of prayers and careful consideration, I believe it is the right time for me to explore new opportunities," he said in his final resignation letter.
In his coaching resignation letter, he said he wanted to resign from the role because he felt it would be "best for the boys on the football team."
Medlin's file also showed he was reprimanded in May 2024 for entering into a $30,000 contract with a robot company without permission from the district.
Knoxville lawyer T. Scott Jones represents the alleged 14-year-old victim in the sexual assault case as well as his family.
Jones said the boy was taken to an area hospital to be checked out after the alleged assault. He's now home, he said.
Jones said his firm had just begun its investigation into what happened. It may not be the first time a student has been hazed by older members of the school football team. He said there might have been an incident in 2022, he said.
In Aug. 2022, Medlin was briefly released from his duties as head coach for reasons not made public by the school system. His personnel file contained no records or information about why he was released from head coach at the time, but Medlin told WBIR in 2022 that he was told he was "unorganized," "unprofessional;" and that he would "stir the pot." He was reinstated as head coach a week later after a Claiborne County Board of Education meeting.
The lawyer said it was his understanding the 2024 incident happened the afternoon or evening of July 30 during the camp, in which new and veteran players worked together to help build rapport and cohesion.
He said his client was "sodomized" with an object.
“Obviously it is a very, very disturbing set of facts that has emerged,” he said.
He said he's concerned his client might suffer long-term psychological injuries.
This was the boy's first year in the football program.
"I want to make sure, No. 1, that he’s taken care of medically, both emotionally and physically and psychologically, but then I also want to make sure that if there were administrators, school officials and personnel of an adult nature that were aware of this and didn’t do something to stop it and/or to discourage it that they are punished accordingly either civilly or criminally. Because that type of deliberate indifference is just not acceptable," he said.
At a county school board meeting in August, Claiborne County Director of Schools Meredith Arnold said the board couldn't provide specific details about the incident due to an ongoing investigation and "the district's responsibility to protect the identity of students involved."
"If any mistakes were made by Claiborne County Schools during this process, then we will work hard to identify such mistakes and make sure they are never repeated," Arnold said.