Bishop Sycamore's new football coach slams critics: 'Stop slandering these kids'

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Bishop Sycamore’s new football coach Tyren Jackson urged critics to stop coming after the student-athletes on the team as controversy swirls around the Ohio school.

Jackson, who was named the defensive coordinator for the season before Roy Johnson was fired earlier this week, addressed the firestorm around Bishop Sycamore on Tuesday. He said the only reason why the school was receiving criticism was because of the way they got blown out against IMG Academy.

"I wasn’t gonna say anything but I’m gonna go ahead and address it now … All the accusations and all the allegations against our program at Bishop Sycamore is completely false. Completely false. There’s no way we frauded anybody. We didn’t do anything negative. We did nothing but put kids from all over the country that play at high levels … we put them on national TV on the biggest stage to play at a high level. That’s all," Jackson said in a video on his Instagram Stories.

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"Now, had it been a little more cleaner or had it been a little bit look like we actually look like we actually belonged out there (against IMG Academy) then maybe we wouldn’t have this narrative. And that’s up for us to fix and that’s up for me to fix."

Jackson, a former all-conference high school defensive back before he played for Ohio Dominican, vowed to get more information out to current and prospective student-athletes.

"So yes, I see all the allegations and I see the stuff. I see all the slander and yes I’m putting my name on it because at the end of the day, coming from where I come from, the humble beginnings I had, we all got pasts, man. So, a man’s past is his past. But as far as the program, these kids, these young men, they’re my job now as the head coach to make sure that you have more information given to you and provided to you about us so we don’t never had this problem again.

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"It’s my job to make sure that you have enough insight on this program and our players so that this issue doesn’t ever happen again. And I will continue to work, work, work, drill it until all of it is made. It’s a fourth year program going on its fifth year and we’re already on national TV. You tell me if somebody would hate on you. You tell me."

He concluded by defending the football players who were out on the field during the IMG Academy game on Sunday and the Sto Rox game on Friday.

"Only reason everybody has something to say is because of the way it looked and that is on us as a culture and as a top down organization and we will fix that but stop slandering these kids. Stop making these kids feel less than what they are. Stop making these kids go home and question if they’re good enough or if this stuff is legit. It’s legit. They’ve been here with us the whole way through. Just stop. Worry about yourself and check yourself for you can ever worry about another man."

Bishop Sycamore played three games since Aug. 19 and playing two games in three days might have been the only criticism of the school but a deeper dive revealed the school duped a marketing agency into putting them on a national broadcast. Paragon Marketing Group did the scheduling for the GEICO ESPN High School Football Kickoff, and not ESPN, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

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"We regret that this happened and have discussed it with Paragon, which secured the matchup and handles the majority of our high school event scheduling," ESPN said in a statement. "They have assured us that they will take steps to prevent this kind of situation from happening moving forward."

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine had called on the state’s Department of Education to look into the school after he expressed his concerns as to whether Bishop Sycamore was meeting a certain standard.

Andre Peterson, who is the founder and director of the school as well as an assistant coach, told USA Today on Tuesday the school was not a "scam."

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"There’s nothing that I’ve gotten out of this that would constitute it as a scam because I’m not gaining anything financially from what we’re doing. The reality of it is that I have a son (Javan) that’s also in the program and has been in the program for four years," he said.

"If it’s a scam and the kids are not going to school and not doing what they’re supposed to do, then I’m literally scamming myself. And most importantly, I’m hurting my own son. So when people say stuff like that … I would literally be taking my son’s future and throwing it in the trash."

Four opponents have already dropped out of their matchups against Bishop Sycamore.