Justin Jones tried to count the number of calls he received from involved high school football coaches in the 24 hours after the decision.
Estimated age is 65 years old. Coach Norman North is the executive director of the Oklahoma State Football Coaches Association, so members rely on him for guidance when changes occur.
This time, he doesn't have all the answers. No one does.
An Oklahoma County District Court ruling Tuesday barred the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association from enforcing rule amendments focused on private schools. This means some schools will move to different athletic classes. Because OFBCA requires redistricting, many coaches have to change their schedules just four months before football season.
“These schedules are printed, so there’s kind of a ripple effect when you see this,” Jones said. “The schedules are out. All these schedules are actually going to have to come back and be torn up.”
These dominoes came after five Oklahoma City-area private high schools sued the OSSAA in December, claiming Rule 14 was unconstitutional. The OSSAA has defended the rule as a step toward competitive balance, elevating private schools to a more highly competitive class based on continued postseason success rather than enrollment numbers.
Since its creation in 2011, controversy has raged over the rule, with coaches often drawn to polarizing sides. The private schools that filed the lawsuit (Bishop McGuinness, Heritage Hall, Mount St. Mary's, Crossings Christian, and Oklahoma Christian School) aim to eliminate Rule 14. Some public school coaches advocate more extreme measures than Rule 14, suggesting that private schools compete. Unique postseason bracket.
In response to the court's ruling, McAfee & Taft's private school legal team released a statement. “While we are pleased with the court's decision, we remain members of the OSSAA and look forward to working productively with all member schools.”
Coaches across the state are having a variety of conversations.
The court's decision essentially created a compromise, but it failed to appease many people.
Instead, it has created a new sense of crisis for public and private school football coaches.
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Why are soccer districts changing?
Oklahoma County District Judge Richard Ogden ruled that Rule 14 would survive, but on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the OSSAA from enforcing the amendment it passed last summer.
The injunction goes into effect on July 1 and prohibits private schools from exceeding average daily membership (ADM) by more than one category. The Class 5A cap will also be reinstated, meaning private schools will no longer be able to advance her to 6A.
If the amendment is rejected, the success factors also change. Private schools only need to be in the top 8 in two of the last three years to advance, rather than in the top four in two of the last three years. This change is an outlier because, unlike other adjustments, private schools are more likely to be promoted.
Collectively, all of these changes significantly alter the organization of the football district.
Matt McIntosh, athletic director at Community Christian, a private school in Norman, is one of the many football coaches left with questions.
“Really, the biggest thing for me, even though I'm not part of the lawsuit, is what football is going to look like next (season),” McIntosh said. “Are there any changes to the schedule that need to be made in a hurry for May?”
The OSSAA has set a target deadline of May to submit a new district plan to the board. Assistant Director of Soccer Affairs Trinity Johnson sent an email to coaches following the court's ruling. He said the OSSAA has developed a plan for the redistricting process and will share information with coaches after the regular board meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
Until then, coaches are speculating where the team will end up.
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How will the team work?
Darrell Hall and Brent Hodges sat at a table in Deer Creek's athletic center and tried to imagine what the football schedule might look like.
It was lunchtime after the Wednesday meeting of the Central Oklahoma Athletic Directors Association, and just one day after the court's decision, Rule 14 was weighing heavily on many people's minds.
Hall, Midwest City's athletic director and football coach, recognized that the redistricting process could impact the team. Hodges, Newcastle's athletic director, knew the same thing.
“I'm not going to break a sweat until I break a sweat,” Hall said. “But I want the decision to be made by the many, not the few.”
Hall said it makes sense for coaches to make decisions that favor the team, and that the group of decision-makers reduces bias.
This is important when a single team's move can rearrange the entire puzzle.
“We're talking potentially about impacting every class of 11-a-side football in some way,” Jones said. “From 6A-I to Class A.”
This reveals a process that required several days of work. Soccer coaches who formed the committee to create the original district last summer considered a variety of factors, from competitive balance to location, when grouping teams.
At this point, the process starts all over again.
Here is an example of its complex nature:
In the original football district for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons, McGuinness was placed in Class 6A-II based on success factors. McGuinness will likely return to 5A once the 5A cap returns.
This will shuffle District 6A-II-1 as the team will need to replace McGuinness. It will also shake up 5A, as McGuinness joins the district and the team loses, requiring 5A schools to move up to 6A-II in order to keep the district's numbers the same.
Midwest City competes in 5A, so McGuinness' move will likely disrupt the Bombers' schedule. There's another reason Hodges is preparing for a major change. Class 4A Newcastle was originally placed in the same district as Heritage Hall, but the Chargers will be moved to a lower class after a court ruling.
“It could change a lot,” Hodges said.
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What other implications does this ruling have for schools?
Although Rule 14 focuses on private schools, the court's decision also removed amendments aimed at public schools.
Amendments to Rule 14 mean that if a private school moves to a higher class, the public school team with the lowest ADM and least success in that class will be eliminated. The step restored numbers within the district while aiming to bring equity to public school teams that had struggled to compete in upper classes.
With the amendment removed, ADM alone would decide which public schools to drop, abandoning the “least successful” criterion. This affects teams like Putnam West. The Patriots were scheduled to play in 5A this year under the amendment, but will likely be forced to return to 6A-II and start their district schedule from scratch.
The ruling causes the most immediate disruption to football, but also affects many other sports.
Effective July 1, the OSSAA will no longer be able to enforce the coupling provisions that applied to Class 5A-6A basketball, soccer, track and field and cross country. If a private school had a boys' team and a girls' team in one of these sports, he would only need one team to meet the success factors for both teams to be promoted. If this rule is repealed, there will be no need for men's and women's teams to advance together.
Additionally, the one-class bump limit and the reinstatement of the Class 5A cap will have a major impact on volleyball, a sport with several strong private school programs. ADM 362.17 Mount St. Mary's spent last season playing her 6A volleyball, but that won't be the case anymore.
Similarly, Community Christian no longer has to move up to 5A volleyball, a change that comes as a relief to McIntosh. CCS' athletic director was not involved in the lawsuit, but expressed support for the private schools involved.
He also provided some of the realism.
“It's almost a no-win situation for the OSSAA as an organization,” McIntosh said. “Because you're not going to get any kind of unanimous feeling about what's fair.”
It's difficult to compromise on such a high-profile issue, but coaches need to have a unified plan when they gather for the redistricting process. Jones said it will be a “burden” for many coaches to find time to do this as spring sports get into full swing, but it is necessary.
“We recognize the importance of that,” Jones said. “We recognize the important qualities. We knew this was a possibility (scenario). We are there and everyone is in good spirits for the 2024 football season. We need to work diligently to put together the best plan possible so that we can spend the rest of our lives together.”
