Rockwall-Heath players and parents ask board for a second chance for football coach injured in practice that caused students to be hospitalized

ROCKWALL, Texas. Current and former Rockwall Heath High School football players, along with many parents, attended the first Rockwall ISD board meeting of the year on Tuesday night to support coach John Harrell.

Harrell is on administrative leave following an off-season practice that resulted in several players being hospitalized for rhabdomyolysis (rhabdo) after they reportedly did hundreds of push-ups.

The county has opened a third-party investigation into the incident, to be completed by local law firm Adams, Lynch, & Loftin, PC, according to a Rockwall ISD spokesman.

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (CPS) was also asked to conduct an investigation by the county. Their results will be sent to the board upon completion.

However, the message from the players and parents to the council on Tuesday night during their first quorum of the year was clear: give Harrell a second chance.

Players and parents even wore T-shirts that read “Keep Harrell”.

“He wasn’t a coach to me, he was like a father to me,” former running back and senior Bernice Lewis told the board.

“If I don’t let Coach Harrell stay, it will have a huge impact on my family,” repeated one of the footballer’s parents.

Last week, the school district sent a letter to football parents informing them that Harrell had been placed on leave after practice on Jan. 6.

The district only said that student athletes were required to do “multiple push-ups” in training and that some children required medical attention, including hospitalization.

But two parents, Dr. Osehotue Okoji and Maria Avila, told the WFAA on Monday that their 15-year-old sons had to do 368 push-ups during the sporting period and were hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis for a total of 11 days.

Rabdo is a severe muscle breakdown that releases a damaging protein into the bloodstream. In severe cases, it can be fatal or cause permanent disability.

The district’s letter does not specifically mention rhabdomyollosis, but lists common symptoms associated with it, and students should seek immediate medical attention if they develop them.

Avila and Okoji said the group was conditioning and made 23 mistakes in 60 minutes during the prescribed workout.

As a result, the athletes were punished with one set of 16 push-ups for each mistake.

The district did not confirm these details, but a WFAA spokesman only said that he would learn more about the circumstances of the training after the completion of the investigation.

Okoji and Avila also told the WFAA that their sons were interviewed by the CPS when they were admitted to the hospital.

They also said that they became aware that at least 15 students required medical attention and/or hospitalization.

A spokesperson for Rockwall ISD also did not confirm this information due to student privacy.

Harrell has not yet responded to a request for his side of the story. Most likely he didn’t talk about it because of the investigations around him.

But that’s why parents and players say they said before the board on Tuesday night: to be the voice of their coach.

“Coach Harrell would never knowingly put our boys in a situation that could harm or injure them,” said Stephanie Laff, whose son Brady is junior varsity captain.

Okoji and Avila told the WFAA on Monday night they don’t think Harrell intentionally meant to hurt anyone, but the practice went too far.

“It was just an awkward situation,” said Bobby Robinson, who has two children who play on the Heat football team.

“It was an accident, let’s see. But he’s not a monster. None of these coaches are.”

The sympathy was shared by Council President Linda Mitchell Moran, who said she and others are praying for all the students involved.

Luff told the WFAA that she was tired of seeing people take sides and that the team should now be one. She said she respects the truth about the injured and their families, but it’s also true that Harrell is a good coach and a good person.

“We pray for all these boys every day. We want them to recover and return to the team. We also want the same for Coach Harrell. The boys miss him,” Luff said.

The board discussed the investigation in an executive meeting but took no formal action.