Legal Battle Over 'Rule 14' Shakes Up High School Football Landscape In Oklahoma

Many Oklahoma high school football teams are preparing for schedule changes. Right now, it's still being determined whose schedules will be changed.

The OSSAA says this all stems from a judge's orders.

Coaches and superintendents filled the seats at today's OSSAA monthly board meeting. "We're the rural schools, so we feel like urban schools are taking priority over rural schools," said Marlow Public School's Superintendent Corey Holland.

Like Corey Holland, other public school representatives traveled to the city concerned about Rule 14.

This newly updated rule for this school year says schools that meet certain criteria and show continued success in a sport have to move up in classification, and this includes a coupling rule.

Five private schools filed a lawsuit in December about Rule 14.

Last Tuesday, a judge placed a preliminary injunction on the rule, saying that it was not neutral and had never been applied to public schools. "The courts intervening in any of our rules is probably the biggest concern to us and our membership when we are a membership-driven organization," said David Jackson with OSSAA.

So, with this halt in Rule 14, the OSSAA had to figure out how to move the private schools that were once in a different classification to the classification based on their membership numbers.

The Oklahoma Football Coaches Association meets today to re-district schools.

OSSAA will vote on their recommendations.

In today's board meeting, the OSSAA created a committee to determine how Rule 14 will be interpreted in the future.