High School Football

SMAC Entertainment, which was co-founded by Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, will be producing a documentary regarding the Bishop Sycamore High School football team.

Chris Vannini of The Athletic relayed a press release revealing the news, which also included information that SMAC Entertainment had "exclusive rights and access" to the program's former head coach, Roy Johnson.

Bishop Sycamore received national attention after losing 58-0 to IMG Academy in a nationally televised game on ESPN.

News and reports about the program trickled out in ensuing days and weeks, including that ESPN may have been duped into believing that the online-only school had Division I recruits.

"Bishop Sycamore told us they had a number of Division I prospects on their roster, and to be frank, a lot of that, we could not verify," ESPN's Anish Shroff said during the broadcast (h/t Andrew Bucholtz of Awful Announcing).

"They did not show up in our database, they did not show up in the databases of other recruiting services. So, OK, that's what you're telling us, fine, that's how we take it in. From what we've seen so far, this is not a fair fight, and there's got to be a point where you're worried about health and safety."

The school's validity even got the attention of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who announced that he would be asking the state's department of education to investigate the institution.

The state of Ohio identified Bishop Sycamore as a "non-charter, non-tax supported school," per NBC4, who did some digging of its own.

"NBC4 Investigates spent the better part of the last week digging through records and following a trail of addresses that reveal no actual school building or curriculum associated with Bishop Sycamore," NBC4's Jamie Ostroff wrote.

School director Andre Peterson fired Johnson following the IMG Academy game, and Tyren Jackson was hired in his place. He told NBC4:

"We do not offer curriculum," he said. "We are not a school. That's not what Bishop Sycamore is, and I think that's what the biggest misconception about us was, and that was our fault. Because that was a mistake on paperwork."

Reports about Johnson also came to light, with two former players speaking anonymously to Zion Olojede of Complex about their experiences with the program in 2020. They shared stories that included fighting, rostering players with warrants for their arrest, health and safety concerns and more.

Actor and comedian Kevin Hart, in conjunction with HartBeat Productions, is also producing a documentary on the Bishop Sycamore football team, per Front Office Sports.

The Bishop Sycamore saga apparently has even more layers that are just being uncovered. 

The now-infamous high school program that misled ESPN into televising a matchup against top-ranked IMG Academy on Sunday—and subsequently lost 58-0 after playing its second game in three days—allegedly used invalid checks to pay for a hotel in Canton, Ohio where the contest was held.

Canton police confirmed to Lori Steineck of The Repository that the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Canton South reported receiving two invalid checks totaling $3,596 for 25 rooms. 

Local police are now investigating two people connected to the stay for passing bad checks or forgery. 

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Canton Police said no one has been charged, though detectives have two listed suspects. The checks given to the hotel were linked to an account listed as Education Resources Group of New York, New York. 

The checks are just one of a few mounting issues the school faces. 

On Tuesday, Ohio governor Mike DeWine asked the state's department of education to investigate Bishop Sycamore's "compliance with Ohio law and to ensure the school is providing the educational opportunities Ohio students deserve."

Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier Journal noted the school is not part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association and is listed by the state's department of education as a "non-chartered, non-tax supported school."

The football program—which reportedly told ESPN it had a number of elite prospects on its roster–fired head coach Roy Johnson following Sunday's loss to IMG Academy. Questions of player safety were further raised after it was uncovered the team played on Friday night before the IMG game. 

Now the Canton police are investigating whether or not the team tried to skip out on its hotel bill.

  

The saga of Bishop Sycamore High School has continued with two players speaking with Zion Olojede of Complex about the program's allegedly deplorable conditions and atmosphere.

The two players, who remained anonymous, spoke about numerous topics that included broken promises, lies, team fighting, lack of preparation, apartment evictions, poor or no medical assistance and malnourishment when they played for the team in 2020.

They also said that 20- to 21-year-old players were on the high school team, which was led by head coach Roy Johnson, who has since been fired.

"He's a liar. He's a thief. Probably the worst things," Player 2 said of Johnson.

When asked what the worst thing was that Johnson had done, Player 1 said the following:

I think it's selling false dreams. Like telling your players you're gonna have X, Y, Z, we're gonna fund this and that, and not having any of that provided for your kids. I don't know what program the schooling is with, but not making sure your kids are getting the proper education. It's cool to check in every once in a while to see how your kids are in school. We didn't even start till three months after the fact. So I'd say school, selling false dreams, and funding. I think that's the concept of lying, selling false dreams.

There were far more than broken promises on the list of alleged transgressions, with the food situation among them.

"Worse than prison food. I wouldn't feed it to my dog. I'll tell you this: They'll feed us tuna salad Sunday, then try to put it on a sandwich and give it to us on Wednesday," Player 2 said.

Personal health was a significant issue, especially for Player 1, who said he had to gut through the season hurt:

One other point I want to touch on: it's important for our safety, right? You should feel like your players are safe. The problem we had was we didn't have any athletic trainers. I got hurt early in the season and I ended up playing hurt the majority of the season because we didn't have any athletic trainers. It was like go outside, go get help with one of the assistant coaches in the pool or something. Even if we were playing back-to-back games, there's no time to recover from those games because we don't have any trainers.

The players also mentioned an incident where an unhoused man allegedly tried to steal Johnson's car. The man was caught in the act, and Johnson allegedly authorized his players to beat the man up.

"Yeah, they ganged up on him," Player 1 said. "I would’ve understood if he handled it himself, but the players were beating on the homeless man. I wasn't a part of it. The whole practice was cancelled because the homeless man got beat up."

Bishop Sycamore received notoriety after losing to IMG Academy 58-0 in a nationally televised game on ESPN. Questions soon emerged about the online-only charter school, including whether ESPN was duped into believing that the school had top-level recruits.

Anish Shroff of ESPN, who called play-by-play, provided these remarks with IMG up 30-0 in the second quarter (h/t Andrew Bucholtz of Awful Announcing):

Bishop Sycamore told us they had a number of Division I prospects on their roster, and to be frank, a lot of that, we could not verify. They did not show up in our database, they did not show up in the databases of other recruiting services. So, OK, that's what you're telling us, fine, that's how we take it in. From what we've seen so far, this is not a fair fight, and there's got to be a point where you're worried about health and safety.

Chris Cwik of Yahoo Sports did a complete rundown of the situation, including the fact that Bishop Sycamore may not be a school at all:

The website makes no mention of classes or teachers or alumni or...pretty much anything you might expect from a real high school website.

Additionally, Bishop Sycamore was not listed as a charter school for 2021-22 by the Ohio Department of Education, according to USA Today Sports. It was listed as a 'non-chartered, non-tax supported school' last year by the Ohio Department of Education. The school chose to be non-chartered due to 'truly held religious beliefs.'

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Twitter on Tuesday that the state's department of education would "conduct an investigation into Bishop Sycamore to ensure compliance with Ohio law and to ensure the school is providing the educational opportunities Ohio students deserve."

The Ohio Department of Education will investigate Bishop Sycamore as the fallout from the school's controversial 58-0 loss to IMG Academy on Sunday continues.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced he asked the department to investigate "to ensure compliance with Ohio law and to ensure the school is providing the educational opportunities Ohio students deserve."

DeWine explained it is not clear whether Bishop Sycamore meets the necessary requirements under the state's law when it comes to the school's operations.

Bishop Sycamore founder Andre Peterson told Chris Bumbaca of USA Today that head football coach Roy Johnson was fired after the game.

The game was billed as a clash between two elite high school programs and was broadcast nationally on ESPN. IMG Academy had no trouble in the blowout victory, and announcer Anish Shroff questioned the safety and merits of the Bishop Sycamore program during the game after ESPN was told the team had multiple Division I prospects.

He also took to Twitter and said the team "had no business being in that game" and was putting the players at risk:

Sorry. They had no business being in that game today. None. I feel bad for the kids. Player health and safety was at risk today. It was uncomfortable for anyone who watched. https://t.co/Eq39vdywLm

— Anish Shroff (@ShroffPxP) August 29, 2021

On Monday, Ben Koo of Awful Announcing reported that Bishop Sycamore also played on Friday night. 

ESPN, which worked with the company Paragon to schedule the game, released a statement on the situation as well: "We regret that this happened and have discussed it with Paragon, which secured the matchup and handles the majority of our high school event scheduling. They have ensured us that they will take steps to prevent this kind of situation from happening moving forward."

Paragon president Rashid Ghazi told Koo that the game would have been canceled had his company known it was Bishop Sycamore's second game in three days.

As for the school itself, Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier Journal provided additional details noting Bishop Sycamore is not part of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. What's more, the Ohio Department of Education does not list Bishop Sycamore as a charter school but instead a "non-chartered, non-tax supported school."

Frakes noted it was not clear if the school filed a required report stating it met Ohio's school operating standards that are in place even for non-chartered schools.

"The state lists Bishop Sycamore's mailing address as a post office box, and its 'physical address' as 3599 Chiller Lane in Columbus—the address of Resolute Athletic Complex, an indoor sports facility near Easton Town Center," Frakes wrote.

The school is now under investigation by the state.

Amid the fallout from Sunday's controversial high school football game against IMG Academy, Roy Johnson has been fired as Bishop Sycamore's head coach. 

Bishop Sycamore founder Andre Peterson told Chris Bumbaca of USA Today that Johnson was no longer with the program. 

Sunday's game on ESPN was supposed to be a showdown between two of elite high school programs in the country. 

Instead, IMG Academy cruised to an easy 58-0 victory. Anish Shroff, who called the game for the network, said on the air how Bishop Sycamore wound up getting on television. 

“Bishop Sycamore told us they had a number of Division I prospects on their roster,” Shroff said (h/t Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier Journal). “To be frank, a lot of that we could not verify.”

Shroff also took to Twitter to address the situation in response to a fan comment: 

Sorry. They had no business being in that game today. None. I feel bad for the kids. Player health and safety was at risk today. It was uncomfortable for anyone who watched. https://t.co/Eq39vdywLm

— Anish Shroff (@ShroffPxP) August 29, 2021

Per Chris Easterling of The Independent, Bishop Sycamore is "an online-only charter school, with the non-OHSAA-affiliated football program serving as its most public face."

This is the listed address of Bishop Sycamore, the school Duncanville is playing on 9/10. It appears to be a duplex. The other address listed on their MaxPreps accounts lists the Franklin University library building as an address. pic.twitter.com/6Zl0KDRbrO

— Texas Football Life (@txfblife) August 30, 2021

Bishop Sycamore played a game on Friday night, against Sto-Rox High School in Pennsylvania, before taking on IMG two days later. 

ESPN said in a statement that Paragon, the company that finds the best high school football matchups and schedules them for the network, "will take steps to prevent this kind of situation from happening moving forward."

Per MaxPreps, Bishop Sycamore has lost eight straight games dating back to last year and was outscored 227-42 in six games during the 2020 season.    

Ohio State commit Quinn Ewers may enroll at the university a year early, thus forgoing his final year at Southlake Carroll, to take advantage of the NCAA's new guidelines on name, image and likeness.

Yahoo Sports' Pete Thamel reported Ewers is already receiving endorsement offers that he's prohibited from accepting under Texas high school athletic rules. Because of that, the 5-star quarterback recruit is weighing his future.

"I don’t really know, I don’t have a final decision made quite yet," Ewers said. "I’m leaning toward leaving and going up to Ohio, just so I don’t have to deal with UIL stuff and can get comfortable with Ohio and Columbus and start to learn."

The Southlake, Texas, native is the No. 1 overall player in 247Sports' composite rankings for 2022. Thamel explained how he could potentially graduate from high school and become eligible to suit up for the Buckeyes in time to play in the 2021 season.

Getting Ewers one year earlier than expected would be a welcome surprise for OSU, which doesn't have a nailed-on starting quarterback following the departure of Justin Fields. Kyle McCord, C.J. Stroud and Jack Miller were all highly ranked recruits, but none has any meaningful experience at the college level.

Ewers might quickly vault ahead of the pack despite having not had a lot of time to learn the offense and build a rapport with his receivers.

The implications of his decision could also extend far beyond Columbus, Ohio.

Early enrollment is fairly common in college football, with Thamel noting Ewers was already looking toward a move to Ohio State in January. Him expediting the process could set a precedent for other blue-chip prep stars.

Defensive lineman and USC signee Korey Foreman sat atop 247Sports' composite rankings for 2021. Foreman hasn't played a snap for the Trojans yet, but Brett Greenberg of the Tuscaloosa News reported he already signed a deal with Rosenhaus Sports for NIL purposes.

Just as a higher frequency of college stars are sitting out bowl games with an eye toward the NFL draft, high school athletes could decide playing out a senior year simply isn't worth it if a nice windfall is within reach.

An Ohio high school football coach was among seven people fired for allegedly forcing a player to eat food that went against his religious beliefs. 

Per Kelli Weir of The Repository, Canton McKinley head football coach Marcus Wattley was fired following a week-long investigation after a player said he was forced to eat pork after missing a voluntary workout. 

The Canton City Board of Education voted not to renew Wattley's contract, as well as the contracts for two assistant football coaches and an assistant baseball coach. The board also voted to make three other assistant coaches ineligible for future coaching positions.

A total of eight coaches were originally suspended by the school on May 26 amid the allegation of misconduct. 

Weir noted the player's family, who are Hebrew Israelite, accused Wattley and his assistant coaches of forcing the player to eat an entire pepperoni pizza as punishment for not taking part in a voluntary workout on May 20. 

Jeff Talbert, Canton City Schools superintendent, said surveillance footage was used to provide administrators with the information needed to make their recommendations for firing Wattley and six others, though he declined to provide details into what happened. 

One of the coaches who was suspended will retain his position because there was no evidence that showed he acted in the same manner as the others. 

Peter Pattakos, Wattley's attorney, said after the decision that portions of the story from the player and his family are either exaggerated or false. Five players who attended the school board meeting backed up Pattakos' comments, saying the player was given the option of eating chicken nuggets instead of pizza. 

Wattley had been the head football coach at Canton McKinley since 2019. 

Duxbury (Massachusetts) High School's football team is under investigation for perpetuating anti-Semitism by using terms related to Jewish people and the Holocaust as play calls during games. 

"As our investigation continues to unfold, it has become clear that members of the Duxbury High School football team did in fact use anti-Semitic and potentially other inappropriate and derogatory language," superintendent John Antonucci said in a statement. "We have been in touch with many members of the community, parents, and the Anti-Defamation League regarding the seriousness of the allegations. We are continuing our investigation and will have further comment at a later time."

"Auschwitz," "Rabbi" and "Dreidel" were among the words used for audibles by the football team, per New England's Anti-Defamation League (h/t Analis Bailey of USA Today).

"We are shocked and offended at these allegations of anti-Semitism and we call for a full-scale independent investigation," ADL New England regional director Robert Trestan said in a statement, per Bailey. "It is deeply hurtful to the Jewish community to learn that plays on the field were connected to the Holocaust and Judaism. There are indications of a systemic failure both on and off the field. We are working with Duxbury officials as this investigation proceeds."

Auschwitz was a death camp operated in Nazi Germany-occupied Poland during the Holocaust. More than 1.1 million of the 1.3 million people imprisoned at the camp were killed, including nearly 1 million Jewish people. Playing with a dreidel, a four-sided top, is a tradition that takes place during Hanukkah. A Rabbi is a spiritual leader in the Jewish religion.

Bailey reported Dansbury used the anti-Semitic audibles during a March 12 game against Plymouth North High School. Head coach Dave Maimaron has been removed from his position amid the investigation.

"On behalf of the staff and players of the Duxbury High School football team, I want to extend my apology for the insensitive, crass and inappropriate language used in the game on March 12th," Maimaron said. "Using the term was careless, unnecessary and most importantly hurtful on its face—inexcusable."

The team's use of the anti-Semitic language comes at a time when anti-Semitism is spiking in the United States. After decreasing over the previous 15 years, anti-Semitic hate and violence began to increase in 2016, per the Anti-Defamation League. In 2019, the ADL recorded the highest number of anti-Semitic acts in one year (2,107) since it began tracking them in 1979, and anti-Semitic hate crimes increased by 14 percent.

Per the American Jewish Committee, the 2019 FBI Hate Crimes Statistics Report found that 60 percent of religious hate crimes were committed against Jewish people, despite making up less than 2 percent of the population. Anti-Semitic acts also go underreported—a survey completed by the AJC in 2020 found that 76 percent of respondents didn't report the anti-Semitism they experienced. 

After retiring from the NFL, Jason Witten will become a head coach at a high school in Texas.

Liberty Christian announced the hire on social media Monday:

Liberty Christian School is excited to announce our new Head Football Coach Jason Witten. Jason, former Dallas Cowboy tight end and long-time Liberty parent will be joining the Liberty Christian coaching staff as Head Football Coach. It’s a great day to be a Warrior! pic.twitter.com/SPtdSqvxID

— Liberty Christian (@LibertyArgyle) February 1, 2021

Witten signed a one-day contract with the Dallas Cowboys last week before retiring after 17 years in the NFL. 

The 38-year-old previously retired after the 2017 season and spent the next year as an announcer for Monday Night Football. He returned for two more seasons, including last year with the Las Vegas Raiders, but will once again step away from the sport.

This time he will try to use his knowledge for coaching instead of commentary.

Witten has long been linked with a career in coaching and even considered a possible option to take over at his alma mater of Tennessee earlier this month, according to Dan Patrick.

He also said in 2019 his goal was to coach in the NFL.

"I've spent my entire adulthood in pro football," he said, per Jori Epstein of USA Today. "Coaching is coaching. You want to be in a competitive level. ...For me, I think this is a level you can have a lot of success in just because you're so familiar with it. Really your whole life."

This high school position could be a stepping stone toward future opportunities at higher levels.

Witten finished his playing career with 1,228 receptions, fourth-most in NFL history, while adding 11 Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pro selections to his resume. He also won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award in 2012.

Texas' University Interscholastic League suspended Edinburg High School defensive lineman Emmanuel Duron from UIL-sanctioned activities for the rest of the 2020-21 school year, according to Andrew McCulloch of The Monitor in McAllen, Texas.

Duron was charged with assault causing bodily injury earlier this month after he ran onto the field during a game against Pharr-San Juan-Alamo High School and charged at a referee.

Emmanuel Duron, Edinburg High defensive end and top area wrestler is ejected from tonight's game versus PSJA and subsequently attacks the referee.

Video from Edinburg CISD stream #txhsfb #rgvfootball pic.twitter.com/FF1DP3z7SV

— KRGV Sports (@KRGVSports) December 4, 2020

In addition to Duron's suspension, Edinburg head coach JJ Leija received one year of probation to start in 2021-22. Edinburg's athletic teams will also be under a probationary period with immediate effect until the conclusion of the 2022-23 academic calendar.

McCulloch provided the context on what immediately preceded Duron's actions:

"Duron was initially flagged for roughing the passer after pushing a Bears offensive lineman to the turf and attempted to make a tackle on PSJA High freshman quarterback Jaime Lopez after the officials had already whistled the play dead.

"The Edinburg High senior was then given a second flag for unsportsmanlike conduct after saying something in Spanish to official Fred Gracia, a 58-year-old referee with 27 years of experience officiating with the Texas Association of Sports Officials (TASO), according to multiple eyewitnesses who were on the sideline when the incident occurred."

The second flag led to an ejection for Duron, after which he immediately attacked Garcia.

According to McCulloch, Duron previously received a suspension midway through Edinburg's soccer season as a junior when he shoved a referee who had issued him a red card. The punishment was handed down by the school and didn't involve the UIL.

The game between Edinburg and PSJA High continued despite the incident. Medical personnel evaluated Gracia for possible shoulder injuries and concussion-like symptoms, and he didn't return to the field.

A lot of people have seen the shocking video of the Edinburg star defender tackling a referee at tonight's game...

BUT for those wondering, the referee was able to walk off on his own power to the tune of a round of applause from the stands. #txhsfb pic.twitter.com/HFfQUr63V9

— Daniel Esteve (@DanielJEsteve) December 4, 2020

Edinburg went on to win 35-21, which qualified the school for the Class 6A Division I Texas. However, officials decided to withdraw from the postseason on the basis that the UIL would have taken the step because of Duron's attack.