![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bill-Elliot-Celina-ISD.jpg\")
Coach Bill Elliott. Celina ISD website<\/p>\n
But as Elliott\u2019s assistants expertly called plays, the man at the core of the team was noticeably missing. Despite impassioned pleas by his players, the top coach was barred from the field. Known for being demanding but supportive, Elliott is the kind of father figure parents call when their boys need a stern rebuke and who makes athletes pray before games. Orange-painted hay bales in the Bobcats\u2019 honor dot the drive to the splashy $25 million-dollar high school stadium,<\/a> built partly at Elliott\u2019s urging. On Friday nights, downtown restaurants regularly broadcast Bobcats\u2019 games.<\/p>\n Once regarded as a local hero, Elliott now is at the center of a growing scandal that has roiled this city and drawn unusual attention from politicians and state agencies. This fall, police arrested the head coach\u2019s 26-year-old son Caleb, a middle school teacher and assistant football coach. Students reported to their parents that Caleb Elliott forced them to perform naked jumping jacks and burpees while videotaping them on his phone, according to an arrest affidavit and civil lawsuits. He now stands accused of secretly filming boys in the school\u2019s locker room and possessing child pornography. <\/p>\n He has since resigned, surrendered his teaching license and remains in Collin County jail on state<\/a> and federal <\/a>charges.<\/p>\n While his father is not facing criminal accusations, at least four civil lawsuits allege that he and other school officials ignored and covered up a pattern of Elliott\u2019s concerning behavior that lawyers and families said should have spurred earlier intervention. The father and son declined to comment through their shared attorney who disputes the allegations against them. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that will come full tilt once the truth and all the perspectives come out,\u201d said Gregg M. Gibbs, a former Plano police officer and longtime neighbor of the Elliotts who acknowledged that the allegations on their face appear \u201chorrible.\u201d But Gibbs noted that they were based on \u201ca ton of misinformation,\u201d declining to offer specifics. <\/p>\n The case is the first test of a new state law<\/a> passed this year that allows families to sue school districts during sexual abuse allegations in which educators are accused of negligence. Government entities are typically shielded from most civil litigation. State Rep. Mitch Little, a Republican who represents parts of North Texas neighboring Celina as well as victims in this civil litigation, said at a press conference outside Collin County\u2019s courthouse this month that the public should know whether the school district \u201cgrossly, negligently or recklessly continued employing or failing to supervise Caleb Elliott in a way that caused harm to these children. Because ultimately, the children\u2019s lives and these families\u2019 lives are what\u2019s at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n The furor has dampened the Bobcats steady march to victory even as Follett and her daughter joined the crowd in Bedford in praise of another touchdown. The single mother lamented the all-consuming outrage that has marred their beloved team\u2019s winning streak. <\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t think something like this will happen here,\u201d said the 45-year-old Navy veteran about the allegations. Follett moved to Celina five years ago from San Antonio, seeking the small-town feel and traditional values that have drawn thousands to the city 50 miles north of Dallas, whose population has more than quadrupled since 2019 to a projected 67,232 next year. That influx of people moving into neighborhoods rapidly rising in the northwestern corner of Collin County has brought newfound scrutiny to a staunchly Biblebelt community that, until recently, sat beyond the sprawling suburbanization of North Texas\u2019 former farm towns. In an unusual division for these typically close knit residents, the Elliott controversy has pitted football against family values and lodged longtime locals against newcomers.<\/p>\n While Follett acknowledged that the accusations against Caleb Elliott are deeply troubling, she added however, \u201cI don\u2019t know that his dad should be blamed.\u201d Among the reasons she said she steadfastly supports the head coach is his tireless passion for student athletes like her sophomore daughter whom he routinely rooted for at track meets.<\/p>\n Like her, many in this city back the elder Elliott. Nearly 900 residents signed a petition<\/a> to allow him to attend a Halloween senior night celebration, permission which the school district did not grant. The coach, the petition said, \u201chas been instrumental in the development of these seniors throughout their high school careers and even prior, for many going back to pee wee tackle football.\u201d In response, more than 260 people authored a counter petition<\/a> saying that allowing the coach to attend the event would \u201cbe deeply painful and disrespectful to those families and to every parent who believes schools should always put students\u2019 safety first.\u201d<\/p>\n The district has placed Bill Elliott and the middle school principal on leave pending an independent investigation, the head of which did not respond to questions. The district separately faces a Texas Education Agency inquiry, results of which police said should be completed this month. A spokesperson for the state agency said that its inquiry is ongoing. Attorney General Ken Paxton, who hails from the more established nearby suburb of McKinney also launched an investigation, although a spokesperson did not respond to questions about where that stands.<\/p>\n Celina\u2019s mayor, a spokesperson for the school district, the head of its school board and his deputy, the high school\u2019s principal and acting athletic director, its assistant football coaches, its middle school principal, leaders of its athletic booster clubs, and more than a dozen parents of varsity Bobcat football players and the team\u2019s alumni also did not respond or declined comment. <\/p>\n Attorneys involved say the lack of perceived public accountability sends an uncomfortable message about what the city values and whom it seeks to protect. <\/p>\n \u201cThe community faces a choice: Do you excuse sexual exploitation of young children in the name of preserving your ability to go and get another darned football state championship?\u201d asked Quentin Brogdon, a former prosecutor who filed civil suits in the matter. \u201cOf course not. You draw a line in the sand. You say \u2018Sorry, we may have to lose the football championship to put away the predator and to protect our children.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cForeseeable risk\u201d <\/p>\n Like his father, Caleb Elliott professes a love of football and God. \u201cFootball = life,\u201d he wrote on his Instagram, identifying as a Christian and Bobcat. In his bio he appeared to quote a Texas commander at the Alamo who once famously uttered: \u201cI will not surrender, I will not retreat.\u201d<\/p>\n He reportedly attended the University of North Texas<\/a>, returning to Celina where his father had built a dynasty that included hiring his elder son Nathan as an assistant high school football coach. Several other Elliott relatives are also employed by the school district, parents and attorneys said.<\/p>\n Caleb Elliott gained employment as a substitute teacher at Celina\u2019s high school, said Gibbs, the family attorney. There, he helped his father as an assistant football coach, according to families. Newspaper accounts <\/a>glowingly characterized the family\u2019s football tenure. Elliott\u2019s attorney maintained that the youngest Elliott\u2019s coaching role at the high school was unofficial. <\/p>\n During his time at the high school, civil lawsuits allege that Caleb Elliott began a relationship with a male student and some district officials were made aware. Gibbs, who also represents that former student, said that the relationship began only after the student graduated and when he was 19. The attorney disputed allegations of wrongdoing while Elliott was at the high school, saying that the couple met online while the teen briefly lived in Mississippi. The Tribune is not naming the former student, who declined comment when reached on his cell, because he is potentially a victim. The teen later returned to Celina, beginning a relationship with Elliott and moving in with him, his attorney said. <\/p>\n The school district declined to clarify the younger Elliott or his partner\u2019s employment, and did not respond to detailed questions.<\/p>\n According to TEA records, the younger Elliott obtained a permanent teaching position at Celina\u2019s middle school in 2024, where he also was an assistant receivers football coach. At some point, the school district hired Elliot\u2019s partner as a special education teaching assistant, according to lawyers and parents. It is unclear whether that was a substitute or permanent role as the district declined to say. Elliott\u2019s attorney said that the family knew he was dating the ex-student because the couple came out on social media. <\/p>\n In the spring of 2024, lawsuits allege that some students noticed disturbing behavior by Elliott, including that he installed hidden video cameras in locker rooms. The lawsuits claim that district officials were informed, but did not bar Elliott from contact with the boys he oversaw. They also did not enforce his alleged ban from locker rooms, although officials sent a letter to some parents acknowledging the incident, the lawsuits allege. The police chief said at a press conference that his officers could not obtain that notice and asked parents to share it. The district declined to confirm whether it sent it.<\/p>\n The plaintiffs in their lawsuits allege that the district knew Elliott was gay and that knowledge in addition to his \u201chistory of an inappropriate relationship with a male student, and his unsupervised access to vulnerable young boys in intimate settings, created an obvious and foreseeable risk.\u201d The most recent filing said at least one middle school teacher reported that Elliott was \u201cbehaving inappropriately towards children,\u201d but the district \u201cdisregarded, minimized and ignored the report.\u201d <\/p>\n Elliott\u2019s arrest, which the police department posted on Facebook as his father oversaw an important Friday night game, rippled across the tight knit community. <\/p>\n \u201cComplete disbelief,\u201d is how Lori Wallace, a 46-year-old homemaker whose sons grew up playing neighborhood football with Caleb and his brother, put it. \u201cIt was a shock to a lot of people that it was Coach Elliott\u2019s son because he very much leans on the conservative side.\u201d<\/p>\n The police department seized the younger Elliott\u2019s phone, on which its chief said officers found \u201cmore than 10 images, but less than 50 images that meet the definition of child pornography\u201d involving students. In a packed, emotional school board meeting weeks later, his father publicly addressed the scandal. <\/p>\n \u201cI want you to know how sorry I am, and my family is,\u201d Bill Elliott said, his voice breaking. \u201cI understand your anger. I understand your frustration. I get it \u2014 it\u2019s horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, \u201cI will do all I can to make sure that justice prevails and things are done right.\u201d<\/p>\n Gibbs, the family\u2019s attorney, said the Elliotts urge people not to rush to judgment before all proceedings are complete. <\/p>\n That the district placed the father on leave, the lawyer said, is \u201cnot because there\u2019s any substantive proof of any wrongdoing on his part, but because he is a very influential character in that community and related to someone accused of such horrific allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n Police investigation questioned<\/p>\n At the press conference in late November, Celina\u2019s Police Chief John Cullison said that his officers had identified more than three dozen victims in the Caleb Elliott case. Yet he said that his officers had so far found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by school officials, including by Elliott\u2019s father. <\/p>\n Cullison, who declined repeated interview requests, noted that the younger Elliott\u2019s partner refused to talk to law enforcement. That complicated the department\u2019s investigation. Elliott\u2019s attorney said that the teen submitted a sworn statement. <\/p>\n In his press conference, Cullison seemed to suggest that civil litigation might prove more fruitful in concluding broader culpability in this case. <\/p>\n \u201cNew evidence may sometimes arise during civil investigations that only emerges after witnesses are placed under oath,\u201d the chief said. If so, he said more charges could be filed. <\/p>\n Attorneys for the victims said that police closed its investigation so hurriedly raised red flags about the seriousness of the inquiry. <\/p>\n The department, for example, could not have obtained responses from national technology companies about the younger Elliott\u2019s online activity in less than two months, said Brogdon, one of the civil lawyers.<\/p>\n He said that officers told parents of one victim he represents that they still hadn\u2019t received much of that documentation a day before police announced no broader evidence of wrongdoing. The department declined to address such accusations. A police spokesperson said that it could not respond to detailed questions because of what he called an ongoing investigation despite the chief\u2019s suggestions last month that the criminal inquiry was complete.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhy did they need to close the investigation so rapidly,\u201d asked Brogdon, characterizing local law enforcement\u2019s handling of the matter as an attempt to say, \u201cplease stop calling us now. We\u2019re putting it on the doorstep of civil lawyers.\u201d <\/p>\n Brogdon\u2019s latest lawsuit seeks more than $1 million in damages from the Celina school district.<\/p>\n In response to such claims, Celina\u2019s police chief on Facebook<\/a> asked civil attorneys to submit any new evidence they have found. <\/p>\n \u201cI want to be very clear that if anyone is going to allege that they have evidence and witnesses related to a criminal case involving children in our community, they have a duty to present that information to law enforcement,\u201d Cullison said.<\/p>\n Elliott\u2019s attorney maintained that civil lawyers rushed to file cases based on allegations that he claimed, \u201cthey hadn\u2019t even begun to corroborate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey took what people were saying and ran with it,\u201d Gibbs said. \u201cNow they\u2019ve got such a narrative that they\u2019re trying to make it fit, you know, a square peg in a round hole, and it doesn\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCrisis in our school system\u201c<\/p>\n The passage of the new law allowing litigation against school districts, filed by Little, was an unusual departure for Republicans in the state who for decades have made it increasingly hard to win civil suits. That effort, which has included imposing drastically <\/a>lower caps on financial damages that can be obtained by plaintiffs, was necessary to prevent frivolous lawsuits, its proponents have argued<\/a>. <\/p>\n Little, in laying out his bill this spring, argued that this limited exception was necessary even though his colleagues have refused to extend similar carve outs for most litigation against local governments. <\/p>\n That\u2019s true even in the case of victims of school shootings like in Uvalde, where a teen gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in 2022. Two school district officers face child endangerment charges for their role in the botched response<\/a>, regarded as one of the worst in the nation. In 2023, a state senate proposal <\/a>to curtail government protections from civil lawsuits stalled<\/a> in committee without receiving a hearing. <\/p>\n In Little\u2019s testimony this year, the Republican said that his legislation \u201callows the judicial system to be a check and balance on a school system that is really not subject to many checks.\u201d <\/p>\n Little declined to answer whether he supports broader civil exemptions in other allegations of abuse or negligence at schools. He said that he stood by his remarks characterizing sexual abuse in the state is a \u201ccrisis in our school system,\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo what extent,\u201d Little questioned in that testimony before his House colleagues, \u201care we willing to allow our children in the state of Texas to attend school and undergo the risk of being either groomed or harmed by a teacher sexually?\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the state is at a \u201cbrink in our school system where traditional values that we have espoused as a country and as a state are less front and center. I\u2019m not saying that those things create predators. I\u2019m saying that those environments sometimes allow them to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n The state\u2019s education agency could not immediately provide data on how many such accusations have been lobbed against district employees. But Tami Brown Rodriguez, an Arlington-based advocate against sexual trafficking who said that she has represented victims in 20 states, testified that more than 56,000 complaints of educator misconduct have been filed against the state\u2019s public school districts in recent years. Of those, she said nearly 6,900 involved sexual or violent offenses ranging from harassment and grooming to abuse. <\/p>\n \u201cThese are not isolated incidents,\u201d she testified. \u201cThey are systemic failures.\u201d<\/p>\n No one publicly opposed<\/a> Little\u2019s bill before the state House committee, although a handful registered against it. In submitted comments, some Texans voiced concerns that taxpayers would foot the bill for crimes in which an alleged predator and possible failures by school officials, not the public, is to blame.<\/p>\n Ross Garrison, a director of digital learning in the Denton Independent School District, echoed such worries in his testimony.<\/a> <\/p>\n \u201cShould a law-abiding community really have to pay the legal bills of an individual that made a horrible choice on their own?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cTime to heal\u201c<\/p>\n Jonathan Granger, a 42-year-old sales executive, cheered as the Bobcats racked up another victory against the Forth Wort Eastern Hills Highlanders in November. As the Bobcats clinched the win with a final score of 70-22, Granger called out to his seventh-grader, a ball boy on the sidelines, while reflecting on the crisis fraying the community.<\/p>\n Despite once being a fan of the elder Elliott, Granger said that now he thought it best for the district to remove him, regardless of whether the head coach is guilty of wrongdoing. <\/p>\n \u201cGive the community time to heal,\u201d Granger said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that the tradition and the importance of football in Celina is going to go away with the exit of Coach Elliott.\u201d<\/p>\n His son played football under the younger Elliott at the middle school, forcing tense conversations in light of the accusations. Granger\u2019s 13-year-old doesn\u2019t grasp the \u201cscope of how depraved it is,\u201d the father said. <\/p>\n Attorneys for the victims said that those families declined requests for interviews as they and their children feel fear community backlash. <\/p>\n As officials called the game in Celina\u2019s favor, Granger\u2019s son rushed to tell his father that the Highlanders wanted to fight. Such risk of violence prompted local officials to abruptly halt the traditional shaking of hands between teams after parents said that at least one Fort Worth player gestured in the motion of a gun, allegedly threatening that he would see the Bobcats in the parking lot. <\/p>\n Critics rushed to post disparaging comments against the Bobcats on one of Celina\u2019s most popular Facebook pages<\/a>, an unsettling development residents say has become unfortunately common in the wake of the Elliott scandal.<\/p>\n \u201cCover up for pedos and can\u2019t have sportsmanship,\u201d one poster alleged.<\/p>\n Granger said that while he philosophically supports the ability of parents to sue schools in sexual abuse cases, he likewise worried about the financial impact on residents as a result of local officials\u2019 apparent failures.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are we having to pay?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n More opportunities for division and celebration lie ahead. At a school board meeting on Dec. 15, parents are expected to demand more accountability from the district. Meanwhile the Bobcats face<\/a> the formidable Stephenville Yellow Jackets in the much anticipated state semi-finals Friday in Fort Worth. If they win, they head to the state championship on Dec. 19.<\/p>\n Amidst the fallout, Bobcats and their fans suffer. Among the latest pains parents cited was the district\u2019s barring of the elder Elliott from graduating seniors\u2019 college signing day this month. Their top coach\u2019s absence devastated players, according to parents. That included the star quarterback committed<\/a> to the top 10-ranked football powerhouse of the University of Oklahoma. Bowe Bentley, whose father did not respond to a text, has played under the elder Elliott since seventh grade.<\/p>\n Kyle Sims, a 60-year-old retiree and former high school football player whose grandchildren are in the Celina school district where his wife also works, urged the city\u2019s residents to reflect on its stated values and halt its fealty to the flagship sport. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t give a rat\u2019s ass about football when it comes to protecting children\u2019s safety,\u201d Sims said. <\/p>\n Disclosure: Facebook and University of North Texas have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CELINA \u2013 Sasha Follett and her 14-year-old daughter shivered beneath the North Texas stadium lights, but the brisk…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[22657,5144,27,2810,29,28,6473],"class_list":["post-85528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-celina","tag-mitch-little","tag-texas","tag-texas-education-agency","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-well-a-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/0526-House-Floor-EG-02.jpg\")
State Rep. Mitch Little, R-Lewisville, on the House floor at the Capitol in Austin on Monday, May 26, 2025. Eddie Gaspar\/The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251121-Celina-11.jpg\")
Aspen and Sasha Follett at the Celina varsity football game on Nov. 21, 2025. Johnathan Johnson for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n![\"Celina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251121-Celina-04.jpg\")
Celina High School at sunset on Nov. 21, 2025. Johnathan Johnson for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n![\"Celina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251121-Celina-23.jpg\")
Celina High School Stadium on Nov. 21, 2025. Johnathan Johnson for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n![\"Sideline](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251121-Celina-26.jpg\")
Sideline of the Celina Bobcats varsity football game versus the Eastern Hills Highlanders on Nov. 21, 2025. Johnathan Johnson for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/20251121-Celina-34.jpg\")
The Celina Bobcats High School flag. Johnathan Johnson for The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n