High School

Florida high school head football coach arrested on charges of inappropriate conduct

According to a FOX13 report, a Polk County head football coach is facing three charges from the Polk County Sheriffs Office

Andy Villamarzo

Police tape
Police tape /

According to a FOX13 news report Thursday morning, Bartow head football coach Tyler Eden has been arrested of alleged inappropriate behavior towards several female students.

Eden has been arrested on the following charges of lewd offense against a student by an authority figure, lewd and lascivious touching of a minor and voyeurism.

Eden has been the head coach of the Yellow Jackets varsity football team the last two seasons, compiling an overall record of 13-10 overall.

"It’s unconscionable that an educator and coach would engage in this kind of behavior with students. This individual has shown that he cannot be trusted, and deserves to face justice for his actions. We commend the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for their thorough investigation, and for taking action to protect students," Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Fred Heid released a statement according to the FOX13 report.

Per the report, Eden, who led the Yellow Jackets to the Class 7A playoffs in 2024, alleged behavior began back in April 2nd of this year when the head coach was reported on by a parent, who claimed that the Bartow head coach had initiated inappropriate conversations with their teenage daughter.

What transpired to cause the complaint by the unnamed parent was the teenager helped Eden with errands for athletics, which went towards community service hours overall, but that's when the Yellow Jackets' head football coach started to make disturbing comments, per the report.

Eden's alleged actions ranged from the head coach making comments about having intercourse to inappropriately unzipping the teen's jacket and handing her a t-shirt after the fact, with him watching from afar. The Yellow Jackets head coach reportedly told the teenager to not report him, though, the teen would do so that very evening in a conversation with her parents.

Multiple other teenage girls came forward after the head coach was reported on, also accusing the Bartow lead man on making sexual innuendos.

"Not only is this highly inappropriate behavior by a teacher, imagine just how frightened this student was," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement, per the report. "Here was the head football coach who was already discussing lewd behavior, unzipping her clothes, then following her into a locker room where he remarked there are no cameras, and complimenting her undergarments. This guy is a total creep, and now he's going to jail. We are not going to tolerate anyone - especially school teachers and coaches - preying on our children."

Eden has since been arrested by the Polk County Sheriffs Office, as though no official word on his dismissal has been released, per PolkWay's Landlin May, the school has tabbed Yellow Jackets' defensive coordinator Grady Morrell as the program's new head coach.

Bartow is scheduled to face Wiregrass Ranch on May 16th in a spring game and also slated to take part in a jamboree on the 17th at Lakeland's Bryant Stadium, which includes Evans, Jesuit, Lakeland, Lake Gibson and Spruce Creek.

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-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi

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Andy Villamarzo
ANDY VILLAMARZO

Andy Villamarzo has been a sports writer in the Tampa Bay (FL) Area since 2007, writing for publications such as Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Suncoast News, Tampa Beacon, Hernando Sun to name a few. Andy resides out of the Tarpon Springs, FL area and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in the summer of 2022 covering the Tampa Bay Area. He has quickly become one of Florida's foremost authorities on high school sports, appearing frequently on podcasts, radio programs and digital broadcasts as an expert on team rankings, recruiting and much more.

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