Niwot High School head football coach charged with assaulting student

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. – The head football coach at Niwot High School faces charges after he allegedly choked and kneed a student in the groin for cursing in class last week.

Boulder County sheriff’s deputies arrested Dylan Hollingsworth, 43, of Longmont, Friday morning. He was booked on second-degree assault and third-degree assault charges. The first is a felony and the latter is a misdemeanor.

The alleged assault happened on Thursday, Oct. 27. Hollingsworth had allegedly taken issue with a 17-year-old student’s use of profanity in a weightlifting class, and warned his students that the next person who cursed would face punishment and “might possible be hit or kicked,” according to the sheriff’s office.

At some point shortly after the warning, according to the sheriff’s office, the 17-year-old student cursed while singing a song, to which Hollingsworth allegedly responded by applying “pressure to the student’s larynx, causing the student to struggle to breathe.”

Hollingsworth then allegedly kneed to the student in the groin. At some point, a school resource officer found out about the alleged assault and reported it.

After turning himself in Friday morning, Hollingsworth was booked and released. He is next due in court on Dec. 8.

The school did not comment on the matter only saying that it is a personnel issue and an ongoing investigation.