Liberty superintendent: No action on football coach's job

Rumors have been swirling since Wednesday regarding the future of Liberty High School football coach Kevin Cylar, but Liberty Local Schools Superintendent Stan Watson said Thursday morning the coach has not been fired.

“We have taken no action on our football coach,” Watson said.

A source on Wednesday said Cylar either would resign or be non-renewed after two seasons. A source on Thursday said Liberty had asked Cylar to resign and that the coach refused and was fired.

The former Ursuline assistant coach has led the Leopards to the playoffs in each of his two seasons.

Watson said Cylar — who is not a teacher in the district — is one of an estimated 50 district employees with yearly supplemental contracts that expire each year in the spring.

“All of those people are non-renewed at some point and then decisions are made on which ones to bring back,” Watson said.

Liberty finished 10-2 overall and won the All-American Conference with a perfect 7-0 record in 2014, Cylar’s second season. The Leopards qualified for the Division V playoffs and opened the postseason with a 62-7 win over Gilmour Academy before losing to Cylar’s old team, Ursuline, 23-7, in a regional semifinal.

Cylar also led Liberty to the playoffs as a first-year coach in 2013. The Leopards finished 7-4 that season and lost a regional quarterfinal game to Crestview, 35-26.

Watson offered no indication about Cylar’s future with Liberty.

“We’ll review that situation and make that determination, as we do with all of our supplemental contracts,” the superintendent said.

Calls to Cylar’s cell phone went unanswered on Wednesday. He also did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.

Liberty High School athletic director George Gulgas and principal Rocco Adduci also could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Visit Vindy.com for updates on this story and read Friday's Vindicator sports section for further details.