JACKSONVILLE, Ala. (WBRC) – Suspended Jacksonville High School football coaches and student-athlete families have filed a federal lawsuit against the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA), claiming the governing body’s recruiting regulations violate the U.S. Constitution and seeking an emergency order to reinstate the team.
The 34-page civil rights complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, contends the AHSAA has weaponized its anti-recruiting bylaws through administrative rules that unconstitutionally prohibit all communication between school representatives and outside students, regardless of intent. The plaintiffs, who include suspended head coach Jeremy Sullivan and volunteer coach Phileepae “Flip” Holloway, also allege the association violated the Fourth Amendment by coercing coaches and parents into surrendering private cell phone records without subpoenas or warrants under threat of automatic disqualification.
The AHSAA replied Thursday morning by filing a motion to dismiss the lawsuit or transfer it to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama in Montgomery. The association argues that under mandatory forum-selection clauses in its official handbook, all legal challenges against the AHSAA must be filed in Montgomery County. In its motion, the AHSAA labeled the legal action an “engineered effort” coordinated with school officials to evade association bylaws, questioning why players and parents are asking a court to lift the coaches’ suspensions.
U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala scheduled a telephone conference with attorneys for both sides Thursday afternoon, Oct. 1, to take up the competing motions, including the plaintiffs’ emergency request for a temporary restraining order.
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The federal showdown follows severe disciplinary sanctions handed down by the AHSAA in September that upended the Golden Eagles’ 2026 season.
Following an inquiry into two transfer student-athletes, senior quarterback “C.L.” and junior “B.C.”, the AHSAA placed Jacksonville on one year of administrative probation, levied a $3,000 fine, forced the forfeiture of a 41-7 win over Alexandria, and barred the program from the postseason. The association also suspended Sullivan and Holloway from coaching for one calendar year and ruled both student-athletes permanently ineligible to play sports at Jacksonville.
According to AHSAA disciplinary letters sent to school administrators, investigators reviewed cell phone logs and determined prohibited communications occurred before the students officially enrolled. The association concluded that any pre-enrollment contact initiated by or involving athletic staff or school representatives violates Section 31 of its handbook, regardless of the nature of the conversation.
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In sworn declarations filed in support of the temporary restraining order, the coaches and parents push back against the association’s findings, arguing the communications were routine and non-athletic.
Sullivan stated that C.L.’s father, Matt Land, contacted him strictly to ask about city school enrollment and residency requirements after deciding to move to Jacksonville. Sullivan said he explicitly told Land he could not discuss athletics, maintaining he never recruited the player.
Holloway stated that his contact with the Land family occurred naturally because his son and C.L. played together on an independent, non-school 7-on-7 travel team during the offseason. Regarding B.C., Holloway stated he has served as an informal mentor and father figure to the student since 2021, years before any high school sports considerations arose.
Matt Land declared that his family’s relocation from White Plains to Jacksonville was a bona fide residential move driven by academic and personal considerations, not football.
The lawsuit asserts nine counts against the AHSAA, alleging violations of the First Amendment, procedural and substantive due process, equal protection, and state-law claims of defamation. The plaintiffs argued that without emergency court intervention, the student-athletes face irreparable harm through lost senior-season playing time and college recruitment exposure, while the coaches face career and reputational damage.
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