Niles West removed former coach Nick Torresso after numerous violations. He denies all allegations.

Former Niles West football coach Nick Torresso was relieved of his duties in December after a school district investigation concluded that Torresso violated numerous school board policies, according to documents obtained by Friday Night Drive through an open records request.

The violations included allowing ineligible students to participate in football activities, failing to uphold safety standards, engaging in retaliatory conduct against students and staff and using inappropriate language when speaking with students.

Niles Township High Schools District 219 originally placed Torresso on indefinite suspension with pay from his coaching and teaching duties at the school on Oct. 1 after complaints of “improper treatment of students and staff.” The district’s Board of Education unanimously approved Torresso’s dismissal as football coach on Dec. 10 after a district investigation found that Torresso violated three board policies.

The Chicago Tribune was the first to report about the district’s investigation.

Torresso resumed his teaching duties and is still a teacher at the school. He also denied every allegation in an interview with Friday Night Drive.

“I did everything in my power to prove my innocence, which I thought was how it was supposed to be,” Torresso said. “I thought that you were supposed to have proof of things before you go through with something like this that could impact someone’s life so gravely. But I wholeheartedly reject everything on there.”

The district detailed nine different violations in a confidential memorandum that Ray Chung, the district’s executive director of human resources and legal services, sent to Torresso on Dec. 5.

In the letter, Torresso allegedly allowed ineligible student-athletes to participate in football activities. He failed to withhold students “not appropriately registered and/or without appropriate medical clearance” and openly engaged “in disputes with the athletic trainers over their determinations on whether student-athletes were injured, thereby possibly subjecting student-athletes to additional injury and creating an atmosphere in which student-athletes feel uncomfortable seeking the care of the athletic trainers.”

The letter also detailed that Torresso failed to “adhere to the directives of the athletic trainers for student-athlete injury assessment and requirement to be withheld from athletic participation” during summer camp practices and the football season.

Those moments allegedly created a “hostile environment for the athletic trainers” where “trainers feel that the football program is second guessing their medical determinations on whether student athletes were safe to continue participating.” Torresso also contributed to a culture where “student-athletes identify going to the athletic trainers to receive support as negative.”

The district further said Torresso engaged in retaliatory conduct against someone whose name was redacted who “raised concerns about student safety to administration.” In the letter, Torresso allegedly admitted to removing that person from the team’s communication platform because he disagreed with them.

Torresso also allegedly told football players he wouldn’t be hired back as coach because of that person.

The investigation determined Torresso used “inappropriate, unprofessional and/or profane language” and fostered a culture in the football program where that language was “acceptable and not corrected.” He had been notified about the use of profane language in coaching evaluations and conversation with athletics administrators, including unprofessional email communications to parents during summer and fall of 2024.

Students and Torresso also allegedly used profane language on the program’s communication platform, something Torresso failed to correct.

The letter further detailed more violations. Torresso failed to “verify student-athlete registration and eligibility for a 2024 summer camp” and “appropriately delegate these duties and follow up on these responsibilities thereby creating unsafe conditions.”

He also violated administrative directives, engaged in conduct that was ”unbecoming" of a district employee and failed to work with administrators, athletic trainer colleagues and all coaches to “create an environment that is respectful, professional and supportive.”

Torresso denied every allegation. He alleged that he still hasn’t been shown proof of some of the allegations and felt the decision was predetermined when he met with the district during the investigation.

“Clearly, this decision was made regardless of what I was going to say or what I was going to present,” Torresso said. “So I’m just doing my best to be at peace with it and wish the best for the kids that are still here, that I got to work with. There’s some great kids here.”

The district declined to make district superintendent Thomas Moore available for an interview and declined to comment for this story.

In another confidential memorandum sent to Torresso on Nov. 26, the district stated it notified Torresso on Oct. 17 that there would be a fact-finding mission on Oct. 21. In that meeting, the district agreed to hold another meeting on Oct. 29. Torresso was informed about it on Oct. 24.

After its review, the district determined that Torresso violated three board policies: “Employee Ethics; Conduct and Conflict of Interest,” “Administrative Procedure – Employee Conduct Standards” and “Code of Ethics for Illinois Educators.” The memorandum included a “notice of remedial warning” to “address this misconduct and inappropriate behavior.”

The memorandum also had a recommendation to remove Torresso from his head coach position and any other coaching position. There was also a list of “deficiencies” that Torresso had to remedy or risk being dismissed from his special education teaching job.

“I don’t feel that there’s anything else I could have done as one person responsible for this many people, to have managed this type of situation, especially when things that are being reported to have happened, to my knowledge, never took place,” Torresso said.

Torresso was placed on leave after the Wolves started the season 3-2 after a win against crosstown rival Niles North. The Wolves came off their first playoff appearance since 2014 under Torresso.

The first public sign of an issue came at a Sept. 10 district Board of Education meeting during the public comment portion. Tammy Caballero, a parent of a Niles West football player, alleged that Torresso had caused her son to re-injure his ankle during the summer.

According to Caballero, a Niles West athletic trainer had not cleared her son to practice as he recovered from an ankle injury. Torresso allegedly made her son participate in a drill in which he re-injured his ankle.

Caballero also said Torresso and coaches made her son do another drill because he didn’t have his equipment with him even though he wasn’t cleared to practice. Her son vomited from anxiety and cried. He and a couple other players asked if they could do something else but Torresso and the other coaches laughed at him and called him “Ankle.”

“They told him to stop feeling sorry for himself,” Caballero told the board.

Caballero said she met with Niles West Athletic Director Dana Krilich and an assistant AD about the matter. She also said two football players met with them as well and verified her claims.

Torresso denied ever interacting with the student, who was part of a lower-level team. Torresso also said he tried to delegate to his lower-level coaches and make sure they had everything that they needed.

“I’ve never done anything to harm any of the kids in this program,” Torresso said. “I’ve never put them in positions where they had to choose their health or participation. I’ve done so much here as the head coach with very little support.”

At the next board meeting on Oct. 8, current and former Niles West football players and parents of football players defended Torresso and asked for him to be reinstated.

Torresso called the experience the hardest things his family had tried to overcome. Although he didn’t feel like he could’ve done anything more to avoid this situation, Torresso did feel bad for his players, especially Caballero’s son.

Torresso is hoping to move on and return to coaching. He remains a teacher at the school and hasn’t thought about leaving. Torresso also doesn’t plan to file a lawsuit against the district for its decision.

“That hasn’t been my focus,” Torresso said. “I’m just just trying to do my best to be grateful that I still have employment and that I still get to work with these kids.”