Serra Fires Football Coach : Preps: Complaints by parents lead to dismissal of Kevin Crawley, who was in his second season. Charles Nash takes over on an interim basis.

Kevin Crawley was fired Thursday as the Serra High football coach and replaced by assistant Charles Nash, Principal Arthur Hernandez said.

Hernandez would not give a reason for Crawley’s dismissal, but a Serra administrator who requested anonymity said it was for “verbally abusing his players with language that is totally inappropriate.”

The administrator said the situation required action after parents complained Wednesday night at a booster meeting about Crawley’s treatment of players.

“The parents voiced opinions that they did not want Crawley to continue coaching the team,” the administrator said.

Hernandez, citing confidentiality of personnel matters, would neither confirm nor deny the report. Crawley, whose record at Serra was 7-6-2, could not be reached for comment.

“It’s for (Crawley’s) own good and for the good of the students,” Hernandez said of the firing. “It’s in the best interest of both parties.”

Nash, who is also Serra’s track coach, will coach the football team on an interim basis, Athletic Director Tim Boyer said. The Cavaliers (1-3, 0-1 in the Camino Real League) play Montebello Cantwell (2-2, 1-0) at 7:30 tonight at Cantwell.

Crawley took over the successful Serra program in 1992. The Cavaliers won five of their first six games under Crawley, but went 1-2-2 in their last five games in 1992, including an embarrassing 36-8 loss to Bellflower in the first round of the Southern Section Division VIII playoffs.

With 13 starters returning, Serra was expected to improve on last season’s 6-3-2 record. But the team has struggled and opened league play Saturday with a 20-13 loss to Verbum Dei. The Cavaliers are 2-5-2 in their past nine games dating to last season.

Hernandez said he did not know if Crawley would continue teaching at the school on a part-time basis.

“It depends on him,” Hernandez said.