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Knoxville Catholic imposes TSSAA football playoff ban
Knoxville Catholic imposes TSSAA football playoff ban for 2026 season after violation
Knoxville Catholic football has self-imposed a one-year TSSAA playoff ban for the 2026 football season due to recruiting violations.
The TSSAA opened an investigation into the program and found illegal communication between a non-faculty assistant coach and a player, according to a school release. The coach attempted to convince the player to transfer to Catholic.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe TSSAA accepted Catholic's punishment in a letter to the school on July 7.
"Our role as Catholic educators calls us to uphold the highest standards of honesty, responsibility, and integrity," said Catholic president Dickie Sompayrac in a statement. "We believe these self-imposed measures are the appropriate steps forward as we work to strengthen oversight, reinforce compliance, and ensure that our athletic programs fully reflect the values and mission our our school and the TSSAA."
Catholic football will be on a two-year probationary period, though the postseason ban only applies to the 2026 season.
The self-imposed consequences include the two-year probation, a one-year postseason ban for the 2026 TSSAA season, a $2,000 fine and a reduction to just five days of offseason practices during the probationary period. The assistant coach will be suspended for the first five games of the 2026 season.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementCatholic also will not have an interschool scrimmage leading into the 2026 season.
"Programs that are on probation remain eligible for postseason competition," the TSSAA's letter to the school said. "Therefore, Knoxville Catholic's football program will be eligible for the postseason series during the 2027-2028 school year, provided there are no additional infractions."
The violation involved "impermissible communication from a coach to a prospective student-athlete via text", according to the school's release. Catholic will continue working closely with the TSSAA and will implement additional compliance procedures and oversight measures within the football program during this probationary period, the release added.
The TSSAA proposed a new set of recruiting violation penalties on March 4 in response to the one-time transfer law. Violations are graded between Levels 1-4, with Level 4 being the most severe consequences, but those penalties will be put into action for the 2026-27 school year, according to TSSAA assistant executive director Matthew Gillespie.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWynton Jackson covers high school sports for Knox News. Email: wynton.jackson@knoxnews.com
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville Catholic imposes TSSAA football playoff ban for 2026 season after violation