Alberta high school football coach Taylor "Teej" Johannesson keeps his politics off the field and out of the locker room, but his views landed him in hot water when a TikTok video of his found its way onto the screen of the school's principal. Posting under his handle AntiWoke55555, Teej's nearly five-minute video says that trans-ideology is being pushed on kids who don't need it, exacerbating their mental health issues. He says this is creating a dangerous situation with mentally unhealthy trans and other gender confused people committing major acts of violence, such as the mass shooting in Minneapolis last week.The statistics on how many of the recent mass casualty events in the US have been perpetrated by trans+ people are unclear and debatable, but in the case of "Robin" Westman in Minneapolis, it clearly was a major factor. .Whatever one makes of Teej's views expressed on TikTok, they certainly weren't hateful. The Sylvan Lake man takes aim at trans ideology being peddled as a cure-all for confused or depressed kids, but not at the kids themselves.It's a distinction without a difference for H.J. Cody High School Principal Alex Lambert. She fired Teej from his position as defensive coordinator for the Lakers. In a recording of the phone call, Lambert says that she saw the TikTok video and is therefore fired. When pressed by Teej for an explanation, Lambert says only that he violated the Education Act, but repeatedly refused to say what section or how.Teej's wife — who happens to be a teacher at H.J. Cody — can be heard in the background telling Lambert how ridiculous it all is, and that this will humiliate her with her colleagues..As of publication time, Lambert has declined to return calls to the Western Standard for comment.Coach Teej, 37, grew up in nearby Red Deer until he and his wife moved to Sylvan Lake in 2015. Since then, she taught at the high school, and he coached football for free as a volunteer. During the day, he runs a sports academy.Coach Teej says Lambert has been out to get him for some time, beginning four years ago when he spoke out against COVID-19 mandatory vaccination, lockdowns, and school closures. He says the principal is "far-left" and "woke," despite Sylvan Lake's reputation as a stridently conservative community.Three years ago, he was called into the principal's office for posting on Twitter his controversial view that "Boys have a penis. Girls have a vagina.".Teej says his latest video was used as an excuse by Lambert to sack a troublesome political and cultural dissenter from her mission to plaster the school with rainbow "safe space stickers".The firing might not be going as well as Lambert hoped, however. My inbox is full of emails from team players, past players, and parents all speaking out strongly in support of Coach Teej. The common theme in them is that he is a great coach and a needed mentor for moulding these boys into strong young men.Several sources I spoke to Tuesday claim Lambert is "chastising the kids for speaking up for me and emailing her their concerns" and telling them to “leave it to the adults.”The coach says that Chinnook's Edge School Division Superintendent Ryan Sawula told him that he is forbidden from talking to his players or their parents. How that's legal, I don't know.As of publication, the Western Standard has not yet heard back from the superintendent for his side of the story, but his staff promise to release a statement eventually. .That's not silencing fellow assistant coach Jeremy Martins, who's been with the team for 15 years. He says that firing Coach Teej is "deplorable, insane, and a massive infringement on free speech." He will be formally resigning from his volunteer coaching position if Teej is not reinstated. Martins has known Teej on and off the field for 10 years, and says, "Not once has he ever brought or pushed his beliefs at any practice or game. He's only ever expressed his opinions 100% on his own time." "He's a big part of our team. Our team wouldn't be where it is without him."For Martins, the one who should be canned is Lambert, not his fellow assistant coach."I don't believe that she [Lambert] should be allowed to continue in her position in any way, shape, or form." He's confident that no complaint came from any student athlete, but from "other groups or people who have a stance on this, and there's just reaching out anonymously." "I’m extremely disappointed. Someone with nothing but good intentions for these children has been defamed. It just goes to show you where we are today in 2025.".Also not taking this drama from the sidelines is the Lakers' Team Manager, Shannon Currie. She formally resigned in protest Monday night. For her, it's personal. Teej coached her children in both football and basketball. Her resignation was "meant to send the strongest statement that I could. It shook the football community and the broader community.""Everyone loves Teej," Currie continues. "The kids love Teej. He's an absolute inspiration as a human being. He's the kind of man you want coaching your kids." As others said, Currie says the coach left his political views on the sidelines. "Most of us weren't even aware of his political opinions until this came up. He's never spoken about this one time on the field or in any meetings. He's not a bigoted person. He's a very kind person. A very loving person." Currie sees the firing as a frontal assualt on free speech. "When you cut out a man's tongue, you're not proving him a liar. You're only proving that you fear what he might say...I think this says a lot about where we're headed as a country." .The principal and superintendent appear to have been caught off guard by the local furor, not expecting the backlash from students, parents and colleagues. They do not appear to have been prepared to speak with any press when the Western Standard reached out for comment. The sacked coach says that he has reached out to his local UCP MLA and minister, Devin Dreeshen, to get involved. His office says they were not aware of it when reached for comment. But this kind of thing isn't likely to stay isolated to a high school football team in small-town central Alberta. It's the kind of culture war clash that has defined Western politics for some time, and is bound to become a bigger issue. It will be difficult for Danielle Smith's UCP government not to wade in. Coach Teej's views on the topic align largely with the Alberta government's policies. Those views might not fit nicely with the ideologically captured Alberta Teachers' Association, but they are within the broad mainstream of Alberta culture. While some are calling for the head of Lambert, Coach Teej himself is remarkably restrained. As a Christian, he doesn't want anything bad to come to her career. He's a better Christian than I am.
