GREEN BAY – Green Bay East football coach Kominiko “Niko” Sila was aware of a community meeting taking place in his honor Oct. 23 at Joannes Park, even if he wasn’t allowed to attend.
Sila, who also is the school’s manager of engagement, attendance and advocacy, was put on administrative leave by the school one day before East played at Green Bay West on Oct. 17.
Several of his players showed up at the meeting to support a man they consider to be far more than just a coach. So did some of their classmates, who were there for the same reason.
“Bring back Nico.” That’s what they chanted. That’s what they want.
Their message was heard loud and clear, and not just by those at the park.
“I want to be there with our community so bad,” Sila said. “I’ve never been the one to not show up for our community. I’ve always been there, and I see they are there for me. That’s who we are.
“It hurts to not be there with them, and I’m keeping a positive mindset and staying strong. I need them all to be safe and also keeping the mind positive.”
Green Bay East hoped to make postseason
East could have made the WIAA playoffs for the first time since 2007 with a win over West.
Instead, it lost in the most gut-wrenching way possible after allowing a game-winning 19-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining.
A near win turned into a 7-3 loss and another year of sitting home for the postseason.
Taking Sila away from his team was bad enough in the eyes of his players. Doing it a day before the biggest game of the season was even worse.
They saw Sila at school that day, only for him to be gone by the time practice started.
Something had to be wrong. Their coach never had missed a day of practice since being hired before the 2023 season. He never missed any event when it came to his players.
They were informed by one of the assistant coaches before practice about Sila.
If they didn’t know something was wrong before, one look at the assistant told them all they needed to know.
“You could tell that he was broken down and he was crying already,” senior quarterback Quincy Shields said. “He didn’t know how to express the answer to us, but he found a way to tell us.”
Shields could feel the energy in the room drop. The practice that followed didn’t feel right. Trying to watch film without Sila was strange.
The players were left in the dark about why their coach was gone. No questions could be asked. No responses could be given.
The communications department at the Green Bay Area Public School District didn’t comment about why Sila was placed on leave, saying it is a personnel matter.
Nobody will ever know whether East would have beaten West had its coach been on the sideline with his players.
After all, they were 10 seconds away from earning a victory without him.
But would things have played out differently? Could they have spent this week preparing to play another football game rather than a kid like Shields now preparing for the basketball season?
“I kind of think if Niko was there the day before, we would have had a way better practice,” Shields said. “The energy would have been there. Our emotions wouldn’t have been so down.
“But at the end of the day, we still had to play. We still had to come out and show the community that even though Niko is not here, we are still going to support him from what is going on. We are still here for him.”
If the Red Devils had a disappointing practice a day before a big rivalry game like they did last week, Sila would have made sure the starting offense got in a few more reps. If there was a team dinner that night, he would have waited until after and took Shields and his wide receivers back to the field for a little extra work.
“Which is not a bad thing,” Shields said. “Which we enjoyed. We had plenty of funny, happy moments with the coach.”
Niko Sila has strong connection with Green Bay East players, students
Sila has meant more to some of the kids than just being their teacher or coach.
After East beat Appleton West in Week 1 in 2024 — it was the Red Devils’ first win since September 2022 — a former player focused more on Sila the man than Sila the football coach or Sila the teacher.
He talked about Sila like he was a member of his family. Like a father.
He’s not the only one.
“Some of the people on this team don’t have a father,” Shields said. “Some people don’t get the love and support Niko (gives) outside of football. Niko has done a whole bunch of things. Not just material things. By just being there in the toughest moments, the worst moments.
“Sometimes, parents are not at Senior Night. He is willing to walk with anybody. Two weeks before the game, ‘I’ll walk with you if your parents are not coming.’ He takes care of me. He takes care of other people. He doesn’t favor anybody. If you are going through something, let my coach know and he will be the first one to support you. I guarantee, you can ask anyone on the team.”
Without being given any definitive answers, it has left players like Shields to guess along with everybody else why Sila isn’t in the building these days.
According to Sila’s representative, Malik Lynch, there have been several allegations made about Sila, including giving students rides home and criticizing school administrators.
He doesn’t believe any should lead to Sila being fired.
“I can say some of the coaches had a disagreement with Niko, I can say some of the coaches didn’t like specific play calling, not remembering that Niko is the head coach and you are the assistant coach,” Shields said. “I don’t want to point a finger or not knowing what is going on, but the football team already has that thing. There have been rumors from these coaches around already.
“I don’t want to point fingers, but that’s what it really is.”
Shields graduates in the spring, but he hopes for his younger teammates that Sila will be back as the coach. He has seen up close the progress the team has made under him.
The Red Devils have won two games in each of the last two years, which might not seem great until you consider they won three combined games the previous five seasons.
Sila has taught Shields to battle through adversity, so he figures there is nobody better to handle it than his coach.
Shields has not been in contact with Sila. He was asked if he was worried about speaking out in defense of his coach and whether he could be punished for it, especially with basketball right around the corner.
The Red Devils really need the 17.3 points he averaged last season.
“I don’t think they can punish me for speaking my mind,” Shields said. “We are outside of school. Niko is a father figure, not just speaking on the coach part. As of right now, I’m speaking on the father who was there, who helped me a lot. That helped me with everything.
“For basketball, I don’t think they should be able to take my season away for speaking out. That’s why more of the athletes are not here. They are scared about what punishments are going to happen for the season.”
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay East quarterback Quincy Shields speaks out in support of coach Niko Sila
Reporting by Scott Venci, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
