Hebron Christian coach on being ousted midseason: ‘A toxic environment’
Quentin Davie didn’t hold back after Hebron Christian announced Thursday that he would no longer be football coach, just seven games into his tenure.
Davie was hired in January after the team parted ways with its second head coach in as many years despite back-to-back state championships.
“I didn’t call them for this job, and they didn’t support me from Day 1,” Davie said. “It was a toxic environment, and for any person thinking about kind of going into that environment, I would look really hard into it.
“It’s supposed to be a Christian environment, but I didn’t see many Christian factors in the leadership and the way they carried themselves during that process.”
Hebron Christian announced it promoted defensive coordinator Daniel Mejia to interim head coach. Mejia will lead the team for the rest of the season, and a national search is underway for next season, according to athletic director Taylor Davis.
Davie said a group of parents called for his termination in response to a punishment he held at practice. Davie said the punishment was in response to the Lions’ high penalty count over the last few games, which contributed to their 2-5 record.
“I would think if you called any kid on that team … no kid would say that I was a horrible coach or person or anything,” Davie said. “So I just gave everything to those boys, so my faith remains the same, and I built them up.”
Davie said he first heard his job was in jeopardy two days ago when Davis approached him with a performance improvement plan.
Davis declined to discuss specifics of Davie’s termination.
“All I can do is thank coach Davie for his sacrifice taking over as a coach and leading our program the last nine months and just appreciate his ability to lead over these last nine months,” Davis said.
Prior to Davie’s tenure, the program had been led by Kenny Dallas, who took Hebron Christian to a 15-0 championship season before resigning to become a full-time pastor. Dallas succeeded Jonathan Gess, who led the Lions to their first state title in 2024 and left for a coaching job in his home state of South Carolina.
Davis acknowledged the school is in “a unique spot” after having coaches leave in consecutive years.