Argyle Liberty Christian School, a two-time TAPPS state champion and a favorite to win it all again this fall, has been knocked out of the 2026 Division I football playoffs after officials ruled the program broke its transfer eligibility rules. The decision, announced this week, also forces a redraw of the entire eight-team playoff bracket and pushes the start of the postseason back by a week.
The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools said its Executive Board met Tuesday to review findings involving Liberty Christian and concluded the school violated Section 104, Part V of its bylaws — the so-called “Follow the Coach” rule, according to a statement from TAPPS. That rule bars a transferring student from varsity competition in a sport for one year if a coach at the new school trained or coached that athlete at any point in the previous 12 months, including through AAU, select, club, 7-on-7, 6-on-6, or similar programs, as well as individual or group instruction, skills work, or fitness training.
TAPPS determined that a transfer student-athlete had played on a 7-on-7 team coached by Liberty Christian assistant football coach Antonio Griffin in the year before enrolling at the school. The association said the school's athletic department leadership and football coaching staff knew or should have known those facts before the 2026 season began, per the same TAPPS statement.
Who the Ruling Involves
TAPPS's own announcement does not name the student involved, but the Cross Timbers Gazette identified him as receiver Jace Johnson, reporting that Johnson had transferred to Liberty Christian from Abilene Cooper High School for the 2026 season. The outlet reported that TAPPS determined Johnson had violated the association's “follow the coach rule” by playing on the 7-on-7 team Griffin coached before the transfer.
Under TAPPS rules, the use of an ineligible contestant requires at least a forfeiture of the games in question, regardless of whether the violation was knowing or unknowing. In Liberty Christian's case, the board ordered forfeiture of every game in which the ineligible player participated — a penalty that was enough to strip the school of its playoff berth entirely. TAPPS said the eight-team Division I bracket will be redrawn and the first round of the playoffs delayed by one week, to November 14.
School Pushes Back, Weighs Legal Options
Liberty Christian disagrees with the ruling and says it submitted evidence meant to demonstrate the football program's innocence regarding the allegations. In comments reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the school called the decision unfair and said it is “considering our various legal options moving forward” and will “continue to do everything we can to fight this unjust ruling.”
The forfeitures land at a particularly painful moment for a program that has built itself into one of the state's private-school football powerhouses. Liberty Christian won the TAPPS Division II title in 2023 before moving up and capturing the Division I crown in 2024 under then-head coach Jason Witten, now the interim offensive coordinator at Oklahoma, according to Yahoo Sports. This season the Warriors had again been positioned among the favorites heading into the postseason before the ruling.
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported that the dispute now leaves the rest of the TAPPS Division I field waiting on a reshuffled bracket while Liberty Christian considers its next move. The case turns on one of the more technical corners of the association's transfer rules, which address prior interactions between transferring players and personnel at their new school. Whether Liberty Christian's promised legal challenge changes the outcome remains to be seen, with the delayed playoff field now set to kick off November 14.
