The craziest part of the Bishop Sycamore story isn’t that a possibly fictitious school sprouted up in Columbus, Ohio, and started scheduling football games against a string of powerhouse programs around the country.
It’s that this had already been done before – and by many of the same people.
Just three years ago, a school called Christians of Faith (COF) Academy was created in Columbus under dubious circumstances, with a football team serving as its lone public face. The school did not appear to have a legitimate physical address. It’s unclear what schooling actually took place. And it was run by a similar cast of characters who have been involved with Bishop Sycamore – including Roy Johnson, who went on to become the head football coach at the current school before he was fired earlier this week.
“It is using the exact same methods, the exact same schemes with the exact same people,” said Ben Ferree, who investigated COF Academy during his previous job as the assistant director of officiating and sport management at the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
“In some of Bishop Sycamore’s early games in 2019, the first season that they played, they wore COF Academy’s uniforms. So yeah, it is the exact same scam. They simply changed the name.”
Bishop Sycamore is facing scrutiny this week after its nationally televised football game against IMG Academy on Sunday. Bishop Sycamore’s 58-0 loss, which was later revealed to be its second game in three days, left…
