About 200 Morgan Park High School students walked out of class Tuesday to protest the school's firing of longtime football coach Chris James, flooding the halls with signs just a day after principal Dan Kuzma removed him from the job. Parents and family members joined in, holding an impromptu press conference outside the school to air their frustrations, while players said they'd been locked out of their own locker room and cut off from the team's game-film account in the chaotic aftermath.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, hundreds of students left class around 10:45 a.m. and walked around the building with signs backing James, according to Block Club Chicago. Parents reportedly held signs of their own asking the school not to punish players over the coaching change. Players also said they never got the chance to say goodbye to James before he was shown the door.
Two Very Different Stories About Why James Was Let Go
James spent nine seasons as Morgan Park's head coach, and the circumstances of his ouster are murky. He told the Sun-Times he believed he was fired because he wouldn't immediately commit to returning as coach next season. Kuzma disputed that account, telling the same outlet that James had made a series of decisions that made his status as head coach no longer viable after the Mustangs' state playoff run ended.
In a Facebook statement, James said his vision for the football program simply didn't align with the school administration's vision, adding that he repeatedly tried to move forward but kept receiving a clear message about the direction the school wanted to take. Kuzma's letter, obtained by WGN-TV, struck a more procedural tone, stating that the 2026 season had concluded effective Monday, Nov. 9, and that there would be a transition in football leadership for the upcoming season, according to WGN-TV. Chicago Public Schools, for its part, said CPS principals have the autonomy and responsibility to make personnel decisions and that the district does not comment on personnel matters, per the same report.
Sources differ on James's exact won-loss record in those nine seasons. The Sun-Times reported Morgan Park went 55-24 with six straight state-playoff appearances under James, while WGN-TV cited a 64-26 record and seven total playoff appearances. Either way, James built one of the more consistent programs on the South Side, and his sudden removal has clearly rattled the community he coached in.
Players Say They Lost Film Access and Their Locker Room
Beyond the coaching change itself, players say the fallout has hit them directly. They told Block Club Chicago they were locked out of their own locker room and denied access to the team's Hudl account, the online platform teams use to share game film and statistics. Hudl also gives players a way to market themselves to college recruiters, and James called restoring that access an essential and basic necessity for his former players.
In his statement, James asked the school to restore student-athletes' access to Hudl, saying it would help players complete highlight tapes and pursue recruiting scholarships ahead of the upcoming signing period. Daniel Rawlings, according to Block Club Chicago's reporting, said three additional games the team was reportedly denied could have helped seniors build out more film for those same college highlight tapes.
A Painful End to the Season on the Field
The dispute comes after Morgan Park's season ended with a loss to Providence Catholic in the state playoffs on Nov. 7. The Sun-Times reported the final score as 42-34, while ilprepfootball.com listed the game as a 7-12 defeat in what it described as the third round; the sources differ both on the score and on how the round was categorized. Block Club Chicago reported that Morgan Park trailed 28-0 at halftime before outscoring Providence 34-14 in the second half. Player Kenneth Allen, who joined the team as a sophomore after James welcomed him, said the Mustangs came within one score of completing the comeback.
James reportedly told players after that loss that they still had an opportunity to play three more games, an apparent reference to the Public League playoffs, which Block Club Chicago described as a consolation tournament the team was preparing for as of Nov. 8 before his firing the following day.
Alumni and a State Lawmaker Weigh In
The Morgan Park High School Alumni Association also raised concerns, specifically about withdrawing student-athletes from the Prep Bowl, and called for the decisions affecting the program to come with fairness, transparency and meaningful communication with those impacted, according to WGN-TV.
State Rep. Kam Buckner, a former Morgan Park football player who went on to play college football at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said he was deeply disappointed by James's dismissal. Buckner said James built a football program that served as a lifeline for South Side kids, and that removing them from competition compounds the harm. “Our young men deserve answers,” Buckner said, according to Block Club Chicago's reporting.
Kuzma and Chicago Public Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Block Club Chicago as of Tuesday. For now, the questions raised by players, parents and Buckner alike — about why James was really let go, and why the team's film access was cut off in the process — remain unanswered.
