Clear eyes, full hearts… drop and give me 400?
We all know there are psychotic high school football coaches out there that will treat players like t-total dawg sh*t, just because they’re only focused on wins and losses, and not their players on a personal level.
And we all know that in the state of Texas… football is life.
We’ve seen it happen time and time again… some loser thinks he’s coaching the Dallas Cowboys and it often gets neglected by the school district as long as the team is winning ball games each season.
And now one Texas high school football coach found himself on leave.
Several football players for Rockwall-Heath High School were hospitalized after head coach John Harrell forced them to do up to 400 push ups in an hour as a punishment, according to KDFW FOX 4.
The school district hired an “independent third party” to investigate the incident, while Harrell gets put on administrative leave while the investigation continues.
In a letter to parents, the school said it all went down during an off-season football program, and it ultimately resulted in several players needing medical attention, and some even had to be hospitalized.
One parent of a child said they had zero breaks and no water during the punishment, and the parent, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the outlet:
“As a parent we send our kids to school trusting that they will be cared for at the highest level. That has been the case until this unfortunate event.”
They also said their child was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis… a condition where muscle tissue releases its proteins and electrolytes into the blood. The condition can cause permanent damage and even be fatal.
Harrell was named the head coach at Rockwall-Heath last year, and has been a coach at the school since 2019. He’s also coached at other programs across North Texas.
Although he’s facing a ton of backlash, junior team captain Brady Luff came to Harrell’s defense, arguing that the coach wasn’t punishing players, but simply instilling discipline.
He said:
“I’m praying for all the sides that are in the hospital. They’re my brothers.”
He also mentioned that there were water breaks, and players were free to leave.
He continued:
“He’s treated us with nothing but respect and he loves every single one of us like his own.”
Luff’s mother also came to the coaches defense:
“So, if anything was going on with this situation that I thought these kids were being harmed, I would’ve been the first person up at the principal’s office or wherever I need to go to have this shut down.”
It’s still uncertain how many students were hospitalized, and the district did not respond for a statement.
