It was a quiet Monday morning before school on Feb. 10, deep in the football offseason. It was unusual, then, when Thousand Oaks High School head coach Ben McEnroe summoned his players for a mandatory meeting.
The team gathered in silence, expecting an announcement about the 2025 team schedule or maybe a guest speaker. Instead, they found themselves at the center of a shift no one had anticipated.
Despite the graduation of his son, Cory McEnroe—who is committed to playing football at the University of California, Davis—players assumed McEnroe would remain with the program. He’d even told them such. His leadership had been marked by major investments, including the renovation of the field house and the addition of standout Division-I athletes including Jackson Taylor, Hayden Vercher and Kaden Glover.
Behind the scenes, tensions had been building. Approval of McEnroe’s coaching methods had declined among players and parents, with concerns about his leadership growing louder, according to current and former players, parents of the program and administration interviewed by The Lancer.
McEnroe entered the room flanked by Principal Eric Bergmann and drastically changed the projection of the Lancer football program.
“I’ve resigned as the head football coach here,” McEnroe said to his players in a relatively brief statement. “I’m doing this to protect my family from lies.”
McEnroe wished the Lancers luck and exited. And just like that it was over. His historically successful tenure had ended in a flash.
Following his resignation, McEnroe addressed the situation in an interview with The Lancer sports editor Jake Bradley.
“It is unfortunate, the circumstances that surrounded the reason for the decision. There comes a point in time [when] you’ve got to stand up and protect your family, and that’s what I’m doing.”
After his announcement to resign, McEnroe immediately walked off campus as a contracted physical education teacher. Two hours after, news broke that he’d accepted a new head coaching position at Heritage Christian High School in Northridge.
Months before McEnroe’s sudden resignation, Lancer junior varsity football parents requested a town hall meeting with the administration to discuss what they described as a “pattern of abusive behavior” by McEnroe and his staff. Mishandling of injuries was questioned, as was nepotism that had been brought to the program.
Parents accused the head varsity coach of verbally berating players, using phrases such as “absolute f**king frauds,” “losers” and “going nowhere in life,” while also ordering players to “get the f**k off [his] field.”
When contacted by The Lancer for further comment, McEnroe declined.
The administration did not grant a town hall meeting, instead stating that parents could voice their concerns during booster club meetings.
Principal Eric Bergmann told The Lancer that he does not do town halls because of fears of them becoming a “witch hunt.” He emphasized he welcomes individual meetings with parents.
The Lancer “Family”
Under McEnroe, TO football became deeply intertwined with his family. His wife, Kami McEnroe, served as co-president of the football booster club, while his daughter, Kylie McEnroe, served as the strength and conditioning coach. McEnroe also hired former CLU coaches onto the staff.
Following the 2023-24 season, the booster club held elections, but many positions, including president, were unopposed. During the meeting, some parents voiced concerns that the program had become a “family affair,” raising questions about financial oversight and decision-making.
The booster club was run by Kami McEnroe and Troy Taylor for the 2024-25 season.
The booster club held elections following the 2023-24 season after former long-time booster club president Donna Lovretovich’s exit. The outgoing board oversees the election process.
Kami McEnroe and Taylor ran unopposed for booster president. During the meeting, numerous parents spoke up to discuss the conflict of interest.
The parents said they were “nervous about retaliation,” and said they didn’t speak out about McEnroe and his staff’s behaviors at board meetings because McEnroe’s wife was in attendance.
On Aug. 14, 2024, the Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) initiated a full audit of the football booster club’s finances, citing concerns over financial management and personnel involvement.
“A personnel matter has come up that requires us to look further into one of the booster clubs…look into their finances,” Deputy Superintendent of Business Services Victor Hayek said in the board meeting.
The audit returned no issues with team financials. But McEnroe remained deeply involved in booster leadership, endorsing specific candidates in emails about the 2025-26 season election.
He also discouraged outside challengers while creating new booster positions, such as “Green and White Day Coordinator,” “Sideline Equipment Manager” and “Hydration Coordinator.”
“A high school football booster club is no place for politics or drama,” McEnroe wrote in emails to the program. “There is a unique opportunity to maintain continuity and build off the positive momentum that has been created and tested by fire.”
“Booster clubs are a completely separate entity from the school,” Assistant Principal of Athletics Ken Nishiya told The Lancer. “We have nothing to do with them other than allowing them to operate under CVUSD. They elect who they elect—we cannot tell them what to do. However, we can give them our personal opinions, and they can make their decisions from there.”
Nishiya was not at TOHS when the Lancer football program hired its coaches under McEnroe, nor when it formed the first booster club board with him at the helm.
Player Retention Problems
After a long-time successful stint as head coach of the nearby Kingsmen, McEnroe left the position in 2021. He coached briefly in Florida and Texas before he was hired to lead the TO football program in February 2023, replacing former head coach Evan Yabu. Yabu, a former Lancer standout wide receiver, coached the Lancers from 2021 to 2023 before accepting the head coaching role at Notre Dame High School. Yabu helped turn the Lancers football program around after a 25-game losing streak, leading them to a 10-0 regular season in 2023.
The 2024 Lancer varsity football team had just four four-year seniors on its roster, a stark decline from previous years when the program typically retained more than 15.
“Practices just weren’t fun anymore,” said a former player who played under both McEnroe and Yabu. “We would show up and get yelled at. I just didn’t enjoy the sport. My friends and I didn’t have fun anymore.”
Following the 2024-25 season, McEnroe sent an email to parents and players reinforcing strict training expectations, stating that participation in TOHS’s strength and conditioning program took precedence over outside training. He discouraged players from seeking additional coaching or gym access.
“If you will be playing football for Thousand Oaks HS, you are expected to lift and train exclusively with Thousand Oaks HS,” McEnroe said in an email to the program. “Our Strength & Conditioning program takes precedence over private coaching/training, and you should not be going to Gold’s or any other gym on top of what we will be doing without consultation…Lancer Football DOES NOT support our student-athletes participating in outside 7-on-7 teams, with very limited exceptions that have been cleared with the head coach in advance.”
Some parents and players viewed these policies as overly restrictive, arguing that they limited athletic growth opportunities and discouraged independent decision-making regarding training. Yet, they said they were afraid to speak up at booster board meetings because of fears of retaliation toward their children.
The TOHS football strength program highly suggested athletes take creatine, eat 3,000-5,000 calories every day at a minimum and required athletes to pick up school breakfast or they would have to run after practice. Preseason meetings with players and parents included presentations stating:
“PROTEIN IS KING! 30-40g within 30 minutes post-workouts. We often provide that. 30-45g at meals every 3-4 hours. You need to plan and provide this. EAT 3,000-5,000 calories per day.”
McEnroe vowed to model his program after a college football system, implementing upgraded strength and nutrition as well as attempting to make the best out of the aging Lancer facilities—an approach he had developed during his time as head coach at California Lutheran University.
While McEnroe successfully elevated TOHS’s on-field performance, his attempt to instill a college-style program at the high school level alienated some players, contributing to the drop in player retention and growing tensions within the football community.
Growing Religious Influence
For most of his career, McEnroe coached primarily at private Christian institutions. His religious influence was prominent at TOHS despite its status as a public high school.
According to multiple varsity and junior varsity players, McEnroe created an environment in which participation in religious activities felt expected rather than voluntary.
Under federal law, public school officials—including coaches— cannot lead, encourage nor pressure students into participating in religious activities. The U.S. Department of Education guidance on constitutionally protected prayer in schools states:
“Teachers, school administrators, and other school employees may not encourage or discourage private prayer or other religious activity…teachers, coaches and other public school officials acting in their official capacities may not lead students in prayer, devotional readings or other religious activities, nor may they attempt to persuade or compel students to participate in prayer or other religious activities or to refrain from doing so.”
During McEnroe’s two seasons at TO, “Jesus Over Everything” t-shirts were provided at team meals, as well as Fellowship of Christian Athletes bibles and bracelets, he prayed with players and fans after games, invited players to bible study, arranged for a pastor to visit during practice and brought the team to Valley Bible Fellowship in Bakersfield for a team meal prior to the Lancers’ 2023 Garces Memorial game.
“He pushed [religion] too much on non-Christians,” said a former player who quit the team after playing under McEnroe in the ‘23 season. “It played a big role in the Jewish players stepping away from the team. At a team meal, he forced the team to pray and listen to a pastor speak.”
Other former players shared similar concerns to The Lancer, saying that despite McEnroe announcing players did not have to participate, they felt uncomfortable with the imposed religion on the team. They feared speaking out due to potential reprisal. Many of those players quit the team citing religion and treatment by McEnroe as their reasons.
Administration Response
The Lancer sat down with Principal Eric Bergmann to address allegations regarding the previous coaching staff. Bergmann said he was limited in his ability to provide details or to answer certain questions citing confidentiality surrounding personnel matters.
One of the most prominent concerns raised by players following McEnroe’s resignation was discomfort with what they perceived as religious indoctrination within the program.
“Early on in Coach McEnroe’s tenure, he would be a part of [prayers]. He and I had conversations where I let him know that [prayers] could not be coach-led. He and I went back and forth about exactly how much involvement he could have in the huddle.”
Principal Eric Bergmann
Bergmann stated that while team dinners at churches were permitted, he was unaware of any scheduled pastor visits, the distribution of FCA “Athlete’s Bibles” and wristbands.
Parents raised concerns about a conflict of interest within the booster club, citing McEnroe’s direct influence and his wife’s leadership role. Some felt this dynamic discouraged open criticism of the program.
“In this particular instance, there was very clearly a conflict of interest,” Bergmann said regarding active persuasion by the booster club. “We believed that we had taken the correct course to make sure that those conflicts of interest were mitigated. Whether or not that rose to the level of satisfaction of everybody is debatable.”
Bergmann acknowledged the existence of general nutritional guidelines within athletic programs but was unaware of specific mandates.
“It is not uncommon for students to be given guidelines in terms of what they should be eating,” Bergmann said. “I think it is a part of the strength and conditioning program—requiring kids to eat certain things. I can’t comment on that because I didn’t know it was happening, nor do I have proof that it was happening, but I can tell you that it’s not uncommon.”
Historic Team Success
In arguably the most important football game in recent TOHS history, the Lancers faced rival Newbury Park to fight for a berth in the 2023 CIF-Southern Section Div. 5 championship game. Rain poured throughout the whole game, the Green Hole drenched but fighting the cheers of the home team Panthers.
The rain had cleared, but the moment remained. With time winding down, sophomore transfer quarterback Jackson Taylor led the Lancers on a potential game-winning drive. The Lancers drove down the field, but two costly penalties derailed their momentum, backing them into a 4th-and-5. One play to decide their fate.
In McEnroe’s first year as head coach, he brought the Lancers to the sectional semifinals, a feat that hadn’t been done since 2015.
Despite key departures of Silas Kemp, Dean Harrington, Brolin Harrah and Blake Lauritzen, the Lancers achieved an 8-5 record in the 2024 season, returning once again to the CIF-SS semifinals before falling to the eventual champions, Pacifica High. In any other program, such back-to-back success would have been celebrated as a turning point.
But for many, the story of the Lancers was about more than wins and losses.
On that rainy night at Newbury Park in 2023, Taylor took the snap, the pocket collapsing around him. He scrambled right, looking for an open target. He fired a pass toward Lauritzen. Incomplete.
Newbury Park took over on downs, sealing a 22-19 victory and ending the Lancers’ season just shy of a CIF-SS championship appearance.
The Lancers stood in stunned silence, in awe that it was all over.
As Newbury Park celebrated, the Lancers gathered one last time at midfield. They had been through more than just a season together. They had weathered intense scrutiny, divided leadership and an uncertain future. But in this moment, none of that mattered.
They took a knee, as they had done countless times before. With arms wrapped around each other, heads bowed, they prayed. McEnroe started the prayer.
