The Virginia High School League has barred Fairfax High School from participating in the football postseason after an alleged recruiting violation involving a junior varsity player by an assistant coach.
Parents immediately responded to the action, saying that Fairfax County Public Schools is applying a double standard to how it handles recruiting violations.
According to the Fairfax County Times, last year, the FCPS superintendent cleared new Hayfield Secondary School football coach Darryl Overton for months, ignoring mounting evidence that he had recruited dozens of players from area high schools, including the state championship team at Freedom High School, where he had previously coached.
The parents have posited that the move on FCPS' part is in response to Fairfax High School football coach Trey Taylor signing a letter last year with other coaches that raised a red flag about Overton's recruitment violations.
Hayfield eventually withdrew from postseason play after the Fairfax County Times revealed text messages that showed the former athletic direct knew Overton would be recruiting players to Hayfield.
The current investigation at Fairfax centers around allegations that assistant coach John Harris paid rent for a family friend whose son transferred to Fairfax High School. People familiar with the matter said Taylor was unaware of the arrangement, but that it was an act of friendship and not an effort to recruit a JV player.
After the player's parents complained that their son wasn't getting enough playing time, he eventually transferred to St. James, a private athletic facility in Springfield, where Overton is now the head coach. His parents later made the allegations against Taylor and Fairfax High School.
FCPS immediately suspended Taylor and Harris, and Overton and his allies accused Taylor of "paying players" at Fairfax High School.
Frustrated parents have now accused FCPS of hypocrisy, saying the district shielded Overton from discipline, never punishing him, but quickly meted out punishment against Fairfax High and Taylor.
“The chronology tells a story of selective enforcement,” one parent told the Times. “At Hayfield, Overton’s program was guilty of systematic recruiting, but he stayed. At Fairfax High, whispers of misconduct led to immediate suspensions.”
