FALMOUTH, Maine — Falmouth High School's head football coach resigned from his position Thursday, according to a release sent out by superintendent of schools Gretchen McNulty.
The move comes just days after his players signed a petition calling for John Fitzsimmons' removal and handed the document to the school board Tuesday night.
In that meeting and in the petition, players said they were concerned for their safety and lost "respect" for their coach. Players, like sophomore Matthew Grace, also accused Fitzsimmons of providing inadequate coaching.
Some student-athletes at Falmouth also said they would have played football this season or next season if Fitzsimmons was not the coach.
Fitzsimmons leaves Falmouth after 16 years.
McNulty thanked the former coach for all he has done for Falmouth and wished him the best of luck in the future, according to the release.
Falmouth dealt with a lot of serious injuries last season and even had to forfeit a game against Portland due to not having enough healthy players to make the game competitive. Players also claimed younger student-athletes were thrown into varsity games because of injuries, even if they weren't ready for that level of play.
On Wednesday, Toss Ross, the Vice President of the Falmouth Football Boosters Club said he was concerned for the viability of the program as whole due to the conflict between players and Fitzsimmons.
Ross said it's hard to build a strong youth and middle school program without a solid and cohesive varsity team at the high school level.
Falmouth finished the 2023 season with a 2-6 record and a 2-4 mark against opponents in Class B North.