Argyle Liberty Christian School has filed a lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order to halt a ruling that removed its football team from the state playoffs.
The legal action follows a determination by TAPPS that Liberty Christian violated its “Follow the Coach” rule by permitting an ineligible transfer student to participate in football during the current season.
In a letter addressed to parents on Friday evening, school President Dr. Blair McCullough formally announced the legal proceedings taken in response to the ruling issued by the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS).
“I want to let you know that we have filed a lawsuit in the Texas courts tonight in an attempt to get a judge to put this ruling on pause so that TAPPS can take the time to look at our evidence again,” McCullough wrote.
The school has retained outside legal counsel and is actively exploring all available options to challenge the decision and reinstate the Warriors in the playoff competition.
“Our young students have done nothing wrong, and we must do everything we can to set the record straight, restore our season, and allow our team to play in the playoffs,” McCullough said.
According to TAPPS, the player in question, a wide receiver from Abilene, had previously competed on a 7-on-7 team coached by Liberty Christian assistant Antonio Griffin. Under TAPPS regulations, a transfer student is prohibited from competing at the varsity level for one year if a coach at the receiving school had coached or trained that athlete within the preceding 12 months.
On November 3rd, the TAPPS Executive Board ruled that Liberty Christian’s athletic leadership and coaching staff knew, or reasonably should have known, about this relationship prior to the start of the season.
The consequences for the top-seeded Warriors were severe: forfeiture of every game in which the player participated and immediate removal from the Division I state playoffs. The ruling also required TAPPS to restructure its eight-team playoff bracket and postpone the opening round to November 14th.
Liberty Christian has firmly contested the ruling, characterizing it as “unfair and unjust.”
“This unfair ruling ignores the clear and obvious facts in this case, and we are considering our various legal options moving forward,” the school stated in an earlier release. “We will continue to do everything we can to fight this unjust ruling.”
The controversy also affects Cooper Witten, son of former Dallas Cowboys star Jason Witten. While Cooper is not the player TAPPS declared ineligible, he and his teammates bear the consequences of the decision. His mother, Michelle Witten, has publicly disputed the allegations through social media.
For a program that entered the postseason as the top seed, the repercussions extend well beyond the scoreboard. Months of rigorous preparation, hard-earned victories, and aspirations of a state championship were placed in jeopardy by a ruling delivered mere days before the Warriors were scheduled to take the field.
On a Friday evening that should have been defined by crowd noise, standout performances, and championship aspirations, Liberty Christian’s football field stood empty and silent.
The school is now seeking relief through the courts in an effort to restore its football team’s place in the playoffs.
