A school district has hired an “independent third party” to investigate an incident wherein several high school football players were hospitalized after a workout at Rockwall Heath High School in Rockwall, Texas.

Coach John Harrell has been placed on administrative leave over accusations that he forced players to do between 300 and 400 push-ups in an hour.

One of the students mother’s, who did not want to be identified, said the players were tasked with 300 push-ups in an hour with no break or water.

“As a parent we send our kids to school trusting that they will be cared for at the highest level. That has been the case until this unfortunate event,” she told Fox 4.

She said her son was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis – the breakdown of muscle tissue that can release damaging proteins into the bloodstream, which can cause kidney damage or failure.

But Brady Luff, a junior captain on the Rockwall Heath football team, said he believes the coach was instilling discipline rather than punishing the players.

Luff, who says he was at the workout, said that water was available and students were free to leave at any time.

“He’s treated us with nothing but respect and he loves every single one of us like his own,” Luff said.

His mother also defended the coach, saying she “would have been the first person up at the principal’s office” if she thought anything was amiss.

Harrell was promoted to head coach in January 2022. He has been with the school since 2019.

Source: Fox 4