DELAWARE, Ohio (WCMH) - A high school wrestling coach who the school said resigned after inappropriate texts came to light is now speaking exclusively with NBC4.
James “Jamie” Kasser was hired as the girls wrestling coach at Olentangy Berlin High School in 2022. He held that position until the school accepted his resignation on May 23, 2025.
Kasser was confronted with text messages he sent in April 2025 to a former Olentangy Berlin student-athlete. NBC4 learned through the course of the investigation into this story that the student athlete was 18 years old at the time of the texts and was no longer enrolled at the school, having graduated in January.
Cars broken into overnight at John Glenn Columbus International AirportKasser claims the messages are taken out of context and the whole situation is a misunderstanding stemming from a situation with the athlete's parents and mental health.
"Her parents told me that she was having issues, she was going to college and being away from home, but they asked me to reach out to her, so I reached out multiple times in a lighthearted way. She never responded back," Kasser said via Zoom on Tuesday.
Kasser spoke with NBC4's Kyle Beachy Tuesday afternoon. Kasser said he was trying to be supportive of a former athlete who he said was "going through some stuff."
"I explained to them about what the messages meant there,” Kasser said. “They all had some good meaning behind it. I'll tell you one thing, Kyle, is, and I, in 2017, I lost my own daughter to overdose. My day goes by that I don't think about what I could have done to help her. So when I knew about her daughter situation, I didn't want that to happen.”
How much would Westerville levy cost taxpayers?The following is a transcript of the interview; some portions have been cut for relevance and time.
Beachy: "Can you kind of give me the context around some of the other messages that that the school called inappropriate?"
Kasser: "Yeah. They talked about the, they asked me about the messages. I said, or am I on your naughty list? Referring to, you know, Christmas saying where? You know, making a list, checking it twice. Want to find out if you're naughty or nice. Just trying to be lighthearted with my interaction with her. I mean, talking about love. I love all my girls, all my guys and a coach with love. So, it's not a romantic love. It's a, a role model type of, good love that I have for all my girls and all, all, all my wrestlers ever wrestled and coached with. Her mom showed me a picture of her, and a prom dress, and I said, you looked amazing. But that's my adjective I use every day. I have a five-year-old. I have five, five-year-old. I tell her she's amazing all the time. Any of my girls that send messages or pictures of the prom, I want them. It's like they live off of that when you give them kudos, they seem to perform better. So, again, I wasn't being, There's no sexual confrontation with that. I just trying to be uplifting, especially to her who's going through a lot of emotional and, health issues.
"There was another message that said that she had issues with her boyfriend, and I said, you know, if I was, if I was younger, I rock your world. I mean, I would just take care of us. If I was that kid, I would have treated her better. This is something I wanted her to feel upbeat."
Beachy: "Do you think that those texts were inappropriate?"
Kasser: "I can see where, not in the in the context where they were, but I can definitely see where I can use better words and how I express myself, no doubt about it. But at the time, I thought was her being an adult older, she would maybe get a laugh on her face. Maybe, bring out that bad mood she was in."
Beachy: "If it was a misunderstanding or if the if the context wasn't there, why did you resign from your position?"
Kasser: "I didn't resign, before the start of the year, I announced to my colleagues that I was. This was going to be, last year. I was 62 years old. I have five and a half weeks be in kindergarten. Who wants to get involved with gymnastics, swimming, and, I just couldn't see sacrificing my time, my own daughter, to be with other people's daughters. So I, I announced at the beginning year that that if it was going to be my last year coaching."
Beachy: "You resigned on May 23rd if you had already planned to, you know, make it your last year. Why? Three days after the initial email was sent?"
Kasser: "Why? Because I struggled. I really struggled with, going through with this, retirement. I mean, when I started the beginning of year, I had all new girls and I was like, okay, this is my last year. I really developed a great camaraderie with these girls, better than any other group. And that really, I really struggled, because they weren't really making good progress. So, it's really hard for me to separate myself. I had already written the, the retirement letter and I did send it to them, but, it was just hard for me."
Beachy: "You told the team before that, before the season started, that this would be your last year, or you told administrators that it would be your last year?"
Kasser: "I told my coaching colleagues, the other coaches that I other around the state, not that I told them it would be my last year."
Beachy: "Would you still say you didn't do anything wrong?"
Kasser: "I tell you what, like I said before, I might change the wording of what, now that I know how it came out. But my intention and what I wanted to get across to that girl is that we still missed you. We loved you. You. You're not being forgotten. And she was just having a struggle with that. That was her connection."
Beachy: "Was there ever a physical relationship with the student?"
Kasser: "Oh, no. Absolutely not, absolutely not. I mean, besides just that little period of trying to reach out to her, You know, I would have done that with anybody. And, you know, any girl that I felt was struggling like that. But with her, it was different because I knew she had a history of, suicidal things, and I just didn't want to sit idle and something happened to her.”
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