Jacksonville High football program banned from postseason, coaches suspended for one year

By Thomas Ashworth | tashworth@al.comBen Thomas | bthomas@al.comJacksonville High School will not be eligible to participate in the AHSAA postseason after being fined and placed on restrictive probation for violating recruiting rules, the association announced on Thursday.The program will play its 10-game regular-season slate but cannot play in the postseason, even if it qualifies. It will have to forfeit all games won in which ineligible players participated in.Any games played against Jacksonville in the Class 4A, Region 6 standings will not count for other teams or in tiebreakers.In addition to the violation, head coach Jeremy Sullivan and assistant coach Phileepae Holloway will be banned from coaching in the AHSAA for one year. Students found to have violated the rule were also “deemed permanently ineligible to participate in athletics” at Jacksonville.The association says the team violated AHSAA Rule VI, Administration, Section 12, Recruiting, in the AHSAA handbook, which reads:“No person connected in any way with a school may contact a student or prospective student, or his/her parents or guardian who resides outside of the school district to inquire or encourage them to transfer or enroll in their school for the chief purpose of participating in interscholastic athletics.”This is the second violation cited against the program this season. Jacksonville had to forfeit its season-opening 34-8 victory against Piedmont for playing an ineligible player.A Jacksonville City Schools board meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday.When contacted, Sullivan referred AL.com to the school principal Jonathan Skinner. Skinner and superintendent Michael Barber did not immediately respond to AL.com when reached for comment.The Golden Eagles were 4-1 on the football field after beating Central-Clay County 28-14 on Friday in a road victory. The only loss on the field was to Class 5A Oxford, 31-21.Jacksonville is the third team in less than a calendar year ousted from postseason play. Mary G. Montgomery and Pell City were hit with recruiting violations and banned from postseason play, but Pell City’s eligibility was restored after AHSAA’s Central Board of Control voted Wednesday to lift the Pell City football team’s restrictive probation in August.The Golden Eagles were ranked No. 10 in Class 4A in the latest rankings from the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Jacksonville is scheduled to face Cherokee County on Friday at home.Thomas is a sports reporter for AL.com. In 2025, he was named Alabama Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. His work has also earned awards from the Alabama Sports Writers...