SALISBURY — Wearing a mix of navy, red and white shirts emblazoned with #teamHightower, parents, colleagues and others flooded the halls of the Wallace Educational Forum on Tuesday to show support for East Rowan High School baseball coach Brian Hightower.

They came to speak out against what they called the recent suspension of Hightower, representing just a fraction of the 3,146 who had by Tuesday’s meeting signed a petition asking that he remain at the school as coach.

Though Rowan-Salisbury Schools officials have said Hightower is on a leave of absence, the petitioners assert that Hightower has been suspended with the chance to lose his job at the end of the school year.

Fifteen people Tuesday spoke in Hightower’s defense during the public-comment period, indicating that Hightower’s absence had followed his use of profanity or his decisions to not put certain players on the field.

Those who spoke ranged from parents of former players to students, colleagues and friends. Many said his heated words or coarse treatment of players reflect nothing but his intense passion for the sport.

“Coach Hightower is a passionate coach and works hard to motivate his players to do their best,” said Mark Walters as he read the statement in the petition. “He works diligently to ensure that he prepares his players for the real world ahead of them.”

Still others called Hightower’s coarse nature and high standards nothing more than tough love.

“Life is about failure,” said Perry Lowman, a grandfather to players under the coach. “Hightower teaches you how to fail.”

Defending the coach’s dedication to not only his sport but to his players, many outlined stories of his work off the field: time spent comforting families in sorrow or helping students through difficult socioeconomic struggles.

Tim Free, the father of a former Carson High School baseball player, said Hightower had gone as far as to make recruiting phone calls for his son.

“All of this, he did for a player of a rival team,” Free said.

Brian Shafer, a former classmate of Hightower, made a point expressed by many: Today’s society is too focused on making sure everyone gets a trophy and no one’s feelings are hurt, making accountability a thing of the past.

This, said Shafer, is something today’s employers find severely lacking in the incoming workforce.

Shafer, who said he works in “corporate America,” said he and Hightower are similar when it comes to their “passion for excellence and not accepting anything but 100% effort and holding people accountable for their actions.”

He had driven from Atlanta to speak and said the students of the East Rowan community would be the ones to suffer should Hightower lose his job as coach. They need to be held accountable for their actions, he said.

Contact reporter Andie Foley at 704-797-4246.