Life-threatening training leads to lawsuit against former Texas high school football coaches

On Dec. 23, former Rockwall-Heath High School football coaches found themselves in legal trouble as lawsuits piled up over alleged life-threatening workouts given to high school athletes in 2023.

A lawsuit filed in Rockwall County district court revealed that 26 student-athletes from Rockwall-Heath High School were either diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis or exhibited symptoms consistent with the condition due to excessive workouts prescribed by former head coach John Harrell.

According to a previous confidential report (per On3), the football athletes were forced to complete more than 400 push-ups in an hour as punishment for minor violations. One of the students' mothers, Valencia Smith, has sued Harrell and 12 assistant coaches for these alleged brutal workouts. In an interview with KERA News, Smith's attorney, Mike Sawicki, discussed the core issues of the case.

"This is not a situation where the boys are just complaining because they were tired after a workout. Rhabdomyolysis is actually a documented, known, dangerous physical condition that is caused by overwork that can have permanent, severe consequences," he said.

The plaintiff, Valencia Smith, has asked for more than $250,000 in damages.

John Harrell denies allegations, seeks immunity under Texas Education Code

In a statement given to Kera News, John Harrell's attorney, Meredith Walker, denies the accusations and states that Harrell tried to resolve the issue outside the court before the case was filed.

"Instead of resolving the matter, the plaintiff included all of the coaches, some of whom were not even present at the practice in question, as defendants," the statement reads. "Mr. Harrell sees this as nothing more than an attempt to overcome the liability limits in the Texas Education Code."

John Harrell seeks immunity under the Texas Education Code, which protects professional school employees from actions taken during their duties. However, it doesn't apply in cases of excessive disciplinary action.

According to prior investigations conducted in 2023, it was noted that Harrell did not intentionally administer severe punishments. However, the excessive workouts nonetheless endangered the health of the students. The report observed that Harrell violated the Educators Code of Ethics.

Moreover, as per reports from On3, Harrell, along with the 12 accused coaches, had a private chat regarding the injuries and attempted to cover up the issue by blaming nutritional supplements. When this incident occurred on Jan. 23, Harrell was put on leave. Some students and parents of Rockwall-Heath came out in support of Harrell and even wore "Keep Harrell" T-shirts.