A team of Texas high school students is being sued for allegedly forcing players to do up to 368 pushups in under an hour during a grueling training session that put their lives at risk.

Former Rockwall-Heath High School coach John Harrell and a dozen assistant coaches stand accused of having junior varsity football players do nearly 400 pushups with no rest and no water breaks in a 50-minute training session that landed some of them in the hospital for several days. According to a lawsuit filed by one of the players’ parents, on January 6th, 2023, dozens of junior varsity players hoping to make the varsity team were punished for every mistake made during their 50-minute training session with 16 pushups. There were 23 mistakes counted, so they had to do a total of 368 pushups. Following the grueling workout, 26 players were diagnosed with or had symptoms of rhabdomyolysis, a potentially deadly medical condition that causes muscle tissue to break down and enter the bloodstream.

Photo: Nigel Msipa/Unsplash

“This is not, I stubbed my toe or this is not I’m a little winded after running some sprints. This is a potentially long-term, life-affecting injury, and it’s not something you’re just going to tough out,” the plaintiff’s lawyer told reporters. “Coach Harrell wrote the program that said any little infraction for all sorts of different reasons would result in these push-ups.”

The lawsuit alleges that some of the “mistakes” made by the students during the training session include “wrong attire”, “negative interactions with coaches and peers”, “bad attitude” and “not hustling”. Rockwall-Heath High School officials had reportedly warned John Harrell not to use physical punishment during his classes, but he allegedly ignored them.

Symptoms of rhabdomyolysis usually appear within 24 – 48 hours after overexertion, which can result in more extreme muscle breakdown. If left untreated, it can result in kidney failure, cardiac problems, and even death. Back in 2023, D Magazine reported that many of the players contacted by the publication had elevated creatine levels that only began to normalize weeks after the workout. Some of them had to be hospitalized after showing more severe symptoms.

 

Harrell was placed on administrative leave after the controversial training session and resigned two weeks later. Although no criminal charges were ever filed against him, the former coach reportedly settled two lawsuits with other parents whose children were affected by the workout.

A confidential report presented in court suggests that some of the coaches involved in the workout tried to silence the affected players through a “whisper campaign”. Some of them were bullied at school by other students and threatened not to talk about their injuries.

People Magazine received a letter from John Harrell’s legal team informing them that the ex-coach had attempted to settle this matter outside of court before the lawsuit was filed.

A similar case was reported 5 years ago when dozens of women soccer players at the Univeristy of Houston were diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis due to grueling physical workouts.