Even though Pitt hasn’t formally issued any other comment on the Jabaal Sheard incident other than to say the school is conducting an investigation, Sheard’s high school coach is speaking up :
Jabaal Sheard’s high school football coach was stunned when he learned of his former star’s arrest on charges of felony aggravated assault.
“To me,” former Hollywood Hills ( Fla.) coach Al Lang said, “this is very out of character.”
Sheard, a senior defensive end at Pitt, was suspended indefinitely after he was arrested for multiple offenses early Sunday morning, including throwing a man through the glass door of a South Side art gallery.
Sheard, 21, was charged with aggravated assault, misdemeanor resisting arrest and criminal mischief, and summary disorderly conduct.
Lang, who now coaches at Parkland (Fla.) Douglas, said the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Sheard was a model player during his four years at Hollywood Hills.
“I’ve never had any problem with Jabaal,” Lang said by phone from Florida on Monday. “I feel very good talking about him.”
His ex-coach went on to say that he avoided trouble while in Florida and he believes this is a one-time incident. There may be something to that as this is the first major trouble Sheard appears to have been in since arriving at Pitt.