Jacksonville High School's football coaches, two student-athletes and several parents have filed a federal lawsuit against the Alabama High School Athletic Association, arguing that the organization weaponized its recruiting rules to punish ordinary phone calls and personal relationships. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, challenges sanctions that suspended two coaches for a year and permanently barred two student-athletes from playing sports at the school.
According to WBMA, the plaintiffs include Jacksonville football coach Jeremy Sullivan, volunteer coach Phileepae “Flip” Holloway, two student-athletes and their parents. The lawsuit names the AHSAA and Jacksonville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Barber as defendants. It centers on an AHSAA investigation into phone calls involving Sullivan, Holloway and the families of two players, communications the plaintiffs say involved school information, logistics for a 7-on-7 football tournament and longstanding personal relationships rather than any attempt to lure athletes away from their schools.
AHSAA Executive Director Heath Harmon notified Jacksonville on September 24 that recruiting violations had been found, triggering suspensions for Sullivan and Holloway and restrictive sanctions against the football program, per the station's report. Harmon, who took office as the sixth executive director of the AHSAA in July 2024 after 27 years in Alabama public education, according to Sylacauga News, succeeded retiring executive director Alvin Briggs. In the wake of the ruling, Jacksonville High School named associate head coach Alphonso Freeney as interim head coach, as reported by East Alabama Sports Today, to keep the Golden Eagles on the field while the case plays out.
What the Lawsuit Actually Argues
The nine-count complaint alleges violations of the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, an equal protection claim and several state-law claims, the same report notes. Sullivan and Holloway also accuse the AHSAA of defamation for publicly stating they violated recruiting rules — allegations that have not been adjudicated. At the heart of the dispute is an additional line in the AHSAA handbook that prohibits any contact or communication with a student or family member enrolled at another school, language the plaintiffs argue is unconstitutionally vague and was adopted without the association's normal rulemaking procedures.
The AHSAA's core recruiting rule bars school-connected people from contacting students or parents outside the district to encourage an athletic transfer, but the plaintiffs dispute whether their communications amounted to recruiting at all. They asked the court for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of the player ineligibility rulings, the coaching suspensions, postseason restrictions and fines. The suit also asks the court to declare portions of the recruiting rule unconstitutional, overturn the sanctions, and award damages and attorneys' fees.
A Tactical Request to Block Retroactive Forfeitures
Notably, the plaintiffs also asked the court to prevent the AHSAA from using its restitution rule against Jacksonville if the students are allowed to play under a court order. That request echoes the AHSAA's Restitution Rule, which mandates that if a student or team competes under a court order that is later vacated, all victories during that period are retroactively forfeited and further penalties apply, according to FOX 54, which reported that Oakwood Adventist Academy faced forfeiture under the same rule during a February 2026 postseason eligibility dispute. Without protection against that kind of retroactive penalty, any temporary court relief for the Jacksonville players would risk even harsher consequences down the road if an injunction were eventually overturned.
AHSAA Pushes for a Different Courtroom
The AHSAA has asked the federal court to dismiss the case entirely, arguing that any litigation affecting AHSAA athletic participation must be brought in Montgomery County Circuit Court. That argument rests on a participant consent form stating that lawsuits seeking relief affecting a student's or team's participation shall be filed in Montgomery County, Alabama, circuit court — though AHSAA attorneys had not actually obtained the signed forms from these plaintiffs, per the station's reporting. The association asked the plaintiffs to pursue their claims in that venue instead.
The case has already seen procedural turbulence. U.S. District Judge Corey L. Maze recused himself and ordered the case randomly reassigned, and court records show it has since landed with U.S. District Judge Madeline H. Haikala. The venue fight mirrors a similar precedent set earlier this year: in September, former Mary G. Montgomery High School head coach Zach Golson filed suit in Montgomery County Circuit Court against the AHSAA and Harmon challenging a one-year recruiting suspension tied to an eighth-grade signing event, alleging a lack of due process during the investigation, according to NBC 15.
Part of a Broader Statewide Crackdown
Jacksonville's legal fight lands amid what research describes as a broader, high-stakes wave of AHSAA enforcement against alleged recruiting under Rule VI, Section 12 throughout 2026. In May, the association handed down identical penalties against Pell City High School, imposing a postseason ban and suspending head coach Jake Ganus for a year — less than six months after Ganus had led Moody High School to a 2025 state championship, per Yellowhammer News.
Jacksonville's season was already bumpy before the recruiting sanctions hit. The school had forfeited its 2026 season-opening 34-8 win over Piedmont High School over a separate player eligibility issue, according to the Calhoun Journal, with quarterback Cross Land sitting out two subsequent games before returning. Jacksonville was 3-2 overall when the September 24 penalties came down, according to 1819 News, and under the AHSAA's restrictive probation terms, the Golden Eagles can finish their 10-game schedule, but none of those games will count toward Class 4A, Region 6 standings or playoff tiebreakers for opponents. Jacksonville moved down from Class 5A to Class 4A, Region 6 for the 2026-2027 reclassification cycle after finishing 6-6 in 5A last season, per AHSFHS.org.
The litigation also arrives as the AHSAA itself has been reshaping its rules. In January, the Central Board of Control voted to separate public and private member schools into distinct postseason divisions starting this school year, organizing public schools into six classifications and private schools into two, according to Alabama Daily News. The same month, the AHSAA revised eligibility rules so that state education vouchers under the CHOOSE Act no longer affect transfer eligibility, a change that followed a September 2025 lawsuit filed by Governor Kay Ivey. None of the allegations against Jacksonville's coaches or the AHSAA's defense have been resolved by any court, and the case remains pending before Judge Haikala.
