New on Sports Illustrated: Bishop Sycamore Fires Head Coach Roy Johnson, Maintains It's a Legitimate Program

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Roy Johnson was fired as head coach of Bishop Sycamore and founder Andre Peterson says the school is not a "scam."

Bishop Sycamore, the school that has gained national attention for potentially being a fraudulent program, has fired its head coach. The news was first reported by USA Today Sports's Chris Bumbaca.

The team made headlines on Sunday when it was blown out by IMG Academy (Florida), the No. 2 high school football team in the country, on a nationally televised game via ESPN 58–0. The blowout was not the issue, but whether or not Bishop Sycamore was actually a legitimate school. 

The school's address is listed as a P.O. box and it claims to be based in Columbus, Ohio, but it is not affiliated with the Ohio High School Athletic Association. The roster includes postgraduate players as old as 19 or 20 who have possibly already played in junior college football games. Coach Roy Johnson was investigated for fraud and he has an active bench warrant for failing to appear in a domestic violence case. 

Bishop Sycamore's founder Andre Peterson, who also currently coaches the football team's offensive and defensive lines, told USA Today Sports that Johnson has been fired. He also denied that Bishop Sycamore was a "scam."

"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," Peterson told USA Today Sports on Monday night. "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.

"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." 

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