Benching a hero: How CB East is failing our kids amidst a mental health crisis
In the heat of a Friday night lights showdown against rival Neshaminy on October 10, 2025, Mike “Moose” Moosbrugger, Central Bucks East’s beloved assistant football coach, did what any true protector would do: He stood up for his players. Eyewitness accounts from fellow coaches and the kids themselves paint a picture of dirty hits designed to injure CB East’s boys. Moose confronted the referee with the fierce passion of a father shielding his own, only to be ejected. What followed wasn’t justice or even fundamental fairness; it was a leadership disaster. Principal Chad Watters issued an ultimatum: Resign by Monday or face firing by season’s end. No investigation. No chance for witnesses to share their side, contradicting the referee’s skewed version. Instead, Moose got slapped with an indefinite campus ban, far exceeding the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s maximum penalty for such ejections: just two games.
This isn’t some minor sideline scuffle; it’s a gut punch to our youth at a time when they need anchors like Moose more than ever. Amid America’s raging teen mental health crisis, Moose has been a lifeline. Twice, he’s addressed the entire CB East student body, baring his soul about family struggles to drive home his mantra: “There are no bad days, only bad moments in good days.” For boys and girls grappling with isolation, anxiety, and crushing pressure, he models the positive masculine energy that’s vanishing from our culture: strength rooted in vulnerability, leadership fueled by love, and resilience born from forgiveness. In 2025, CDC data shows suicide rates among youth aged 10–24 have climbed 52% since 2000, with over 7,000 deaths last year alone. We can’t afford to sideline heroes who remind kids that tough moments don’t define them.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The Institute for Family Studies reports that 71% of high school dropouts lack consistent male role models, while Big Brothers Big Sisters data reveals mentored kids are 55% more likely to attend college, with stronger grades and attendance. Moose embodies this: His players don’t just hit harder on the field, they trust deeper off it. Yet CBSD’s response? A stone-cold email to parents, issued only after relentless pleas, rallies, and the team’s unified letter begging for mercy. It dodges the October board meeting rally, silences disputing witnesses, and cloaks itself in vague platitudes about “highest standards” and “personnel matters.” This is deflection at its worst, gaslighting families as our sons (and daughters) mourn the loss of a guiding light.
The team’s letter, from every single player, lays it bare: “Coach Moose always sought to connect…. His actions represented how he felt Neshaminy players were purposely seeking to injure his athletes, whom he considers to be his kids.” They call out the farce of a one-referee kangaroo court, ignoring eyewitnesses and bulldozing PIAA guidelines that cap penalties at two games for heated confrontations. Moose, refusing to be coerced, retracted his forced resignation and demanded the public hearing he’s entitled to under the Pennsylvania Public School Code. It was denied. It was a stand for due process in a district riddled with shortcuts, echoing the mishandled “Jamison incident,” a far graver failure of oversight that still casts a far-reaching shadow. Despite not being the board’s direct fault, it was their duty to clean it up then, just as it is now.
CBSD’s own mantra of “Pride, Accountability, Trust” demands more than lip service. Booting Moose doesn’t teach sportsmanship; it sows despair. Our kids need Mooses: mentors who show that passion for protection is a virtue, not a violation. In a world where 40% of high schoolers battle persistent sadness or hopelessness and where one in three seriously considered suicide last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we can’t bench the very men who pull kids from the brink.
The official results page for the CDC’s 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey is available here.
This fight isn’t just about one coach; it’s a wake-up call for all of us. As our children watch, will we teach them that passion for protection is a firing offense? Or that love-fueled leaders like Moose and parents prevail? The choice is ours. Reinstate Moose. Reclaim our kids’ future.
Jay Callaghan is a Central Bucks parent.
