( CNN ) -- UPDATE : High school football coach Bud Walpole was offered his job back , effective Thursday , CNN affiliate WCBD reported . The school district superintendent invited him back Wednesday only after Walpole submitted a written commitment to focus more on diversity and sensitivity training , according to a statement . A high school football coach in Charleston , South Carolina , was fired after he permitted a post-game celebratory ritual involving a watermelon that some say is racist . After a parent reported the `` watermelon ritual '' to the school board , the Charleston County School District launched an investigation and ultimately fired Academic Magnet High School coach Bud Walpole , according to CNN affiliate WCSC . `` Players would gather in a circle and smash the watermelon while others were either standing in a group or locking arms and making chanting sounds described as , 'Ooh , ooh , ooh , ' '' school district Superintendent Nancy McGinley said , describing the noises as `` monkey sounds . '' The watermelon was decorated with caricatures drawn with Sharpie markers , she added . Dot Scott , president of the Charleston branch of the NAACP , said the organization supported the school 's decision to fire Walpole . Scott thanked the superintendent at a Wednesday press conference `` for her swift attention to an inappropriate and racially insensitive ritual performed by the football team . '' The school district has not yet responded to CNN 's request for comment . A number of parents and students , however , are standing in support of Walpole , who coached at the school for 10 years . More than 4,000 people have signed a petition to reinstate the ousted coach , as of Wednesday afternoon . Some say they do n't see the ritual as racist . `` I just do n't understand why the school district is concerned this is an issue , '' Connie Biggs , the president of Academic Magnet 's Booster Club told WCSC . `` Is it because it 's a watermelon ? If it had been a pumpkin or a cantaloupe would that have been a different reaction from the district . '' Harry Griffin , a junior at The Citadel , The Military College of South Carolina , said he has known Walpole for six years and considers the coach a man of integrity . Griffin played for Walpole 's high school team as a fullback and nose guard . CNN first learned of this story through an iReport Griffin uploaded . `` Coach Walpole was fired because his team had a harmless tradition that was made to seem prejudiced , '' Griffin wrote in a CNN iReport . `` They had a post-game ritual of smashing a watermelon and eating it after every victory . A parent on an opposing team deemed this act as racist and the school board decided to interrogate the players . '' Some parents are taking issue with how the investigation was conducted and how students were questioned about the ritual . `` The school district is not telling us what they said to these kids , '' Biggs said . `` They 're giving us two questions that they say that they asked but these interviews have lasted 10-20 minutes apiece , so I 'm really unclear how two questions could take that long . '' Griffin called Walpole 's firing an injustice . `` I want to help my coach get his integrity back , '' Griffin said . `` You can ask anyone that has ever met Bud Walpole if he has ever said or done anything that would cause you to think he was racist . Nobody would ever say such a thing . ''
High school football coach fired after controversial `` watermelon ritual '' Players would smash a watermelon and make `` monkey sounds '' after games . Local NAACP supported the school 's decision to fire Bud Walpole . Score: 6