Written by: Hannah Field | News Editor

A South Albany High School teacher and CoHead Coach of the football team, was arrested on Wednesday, Jan. 3 and charged with second-degree criminal trespass and two counts of first-degree theft, which ranged from allegedly funneling funds raised for the football team into his own pocket to stealing a student’s iPhone, totaling more than $8,000 in damages.

Former teacher, David Younger, was the Head Coach at South Albany High School from 2013 to 2019 and served as a physical education and health educator in the facility. In 2019, Younger resigned to take up a volunteer position as an assistant coach at Willamette University. After this, he returned to South Albany High School in 2021 as Co-Head Football Coach.

Greater Albany Public Schools released a statement the same day regarding Younger’s arrest, disclosing that they were first alerted of financial mismanagement in November of 2023, when student money was missing from the school’s locker rooms and was reported to administration. 

This sparked an investigation by the Albany Police Department that resulted in Younger’s administrative leave and arrest. Linn County court documents named at least eleven victims —  six of whom were student athletes and one physical education teacher.

The same documents list Younger’s prior alleged theft record from August of 2023. He was viewed on security cameras unlawfully entering areas on the South Albany High School premises — the action that led to his trespassing charge.

Spencer Randall, a 2022 graduate of South Albany High School, had Younger as a health teacher in 2018 — his freshman year. 

“I remember him just being laid-back and funny, a pretty easy-going guy. It’s honestly just really surprising — I didn’t think that he would do that when I first heard about it,” Randall said. “It’s crazy.”

An earlier graduate from 2017 had differing opinions. Former football player Tanner Hemcazek worked closely with Younger — even stating that Younger had allegedly sabotaged his chance at playing college football by telling scouts he was “uncoachable” and “had a bad attitude.”

“I wasn’t really surprised at all,” Hemcazek said, regarding Younger’s arrest. “He never did his duty as a coach. He wasn’t interested in guiding players, or helping them with playing in college — I thought he was an extremely short-tempered and selfish man. He cared about his image more than anything.”

Hemcazek ultimately did not go on to play college football. He recalled his senior year when Younger supposedly benched most of his graduating class in retaliation for their dissatisfaction with his coaching methods.

“That was when he told college scouts — that had come to ask about me specifically — that they were wasting their time,” Hemcazek said.

Younger was granted conditional release from custody as long as he maintains distance from Greater Albany Public School property and victims of his alleged theft. Younger is reportedly scheduled for his next court hearing on Feb. 12. 

Contact the author at howlnews@wou.edu