College players aren't the only ones out hiring lawyers to challenge their ability to take the field with their teams.
The same is set to take place in Michigan as one of the state's most successful and well known head coaches is set to face off against his school district and the MHSAA.
Second-year Kenowa Hills (MI) head coach Don Fellows was recently the subject of a Title IX investigation by the school district, the results of which led to a recommended two-game suspension by the school and cost the Knights athletic director his job. Fellows did coach in the team's season opener against defending Division 3 state champion Dewitt last Thursday night, a 59-21 loss, but is currently set to sit games two (home against Big Rapids HS) and three (away at Greenville HS).
The reports flagged a list of concerns. Investigators cited inappropriate language with students and an all-male "Knight Strength" first-hour class that was heavily populated with football players. They found Fellows using that first hour to run football drills with up to a dozen kids, two to three times a week, during instructional time, along with Friday film sessions. The report concluded the setup violated MHSAA guidelines and board policy because it put more than four players through football drills during the school day.
A previous superintendent had reportedly told Fellows to stop. The reports say it kept happening.
In a letter Fellows released publicy, he disputes nearly all of it.
"I strongly believe the report contains numerous inaccuracies, mistakes, and statements that have unfairly damaged my reputation," he wrote. He said he did not knowingly violate MHSAA rules, and he raised concern that the association "may not have been provided with all of the accurate and complete information" before any final ruling. He argued the district's investigation and its self-report to the MHSAA "were influenced by individuals who had been working to remove me from my role as head football coach."
Fellows also wrote that the proposed consequences include restrictions "that could prevent me from watching my own son play.' Grayson Fellows is regarded as one of the state's top quarterbacks, and is currently committed to play college football at Michigan Tech (D-II).
On the surface, it seems that Fellows decision to hire a lawyer could mean they attempt to take this to court before the suspension kicks in. College athletes have managed to block decisions that way over the past 18-months or so, but dig a bit deeper and it's evident the comparison is thinner than it initially looks. In the athlete centered cases, such as Diego Pavia's high profile fight with the NCAA that got him eligible for a historic 2025 season quarterbacking Vanderbilt to the most successful season in school history, mostly came as preliminary injunctions built on the back of antitrust claims, as players argued an eligibility rule was costing them NIL money and thus a season they could never get back. Pavia actually lost his first restraining order before he won an injunction later. Fellows does not have that same antitrust claim on his side. Instead, he's an employee of the district challenging workplace discipline, not an athlete challenging an eligibility rule, with no antitrust angle and no lost playing time.
To stop the suspension this week, he'd need to find a judge to grant emergency relief against the district, the MHSAA (or both) and clear the usual legal bars - a likely win on the merits, irreparable harm, the balance of equities, and the public interest. Irreparable harm is the hard one in this particular case. The wwo games he misses can be fixed later with back pay or even a corrected record if he's proven right, and courts are slow to blow up an employer's discipline on an emergency basis when it can be settled financially instead. They also tend to defer to athletic associations on their own rules unless there's fraud or bad faith. His strongest card may be the one regarding his son. A restriction that keeps a father out of his kid's games could certainly be classified as a personal harm a no amount of money can make right, which would pave a cleaner path to irreparable harm than coaching games are. Michigan courts will hear a case against the MHSAA, and they have before, but coach discipline doesn't sit in the same sympathetic lane those college eligibility cases found.
Along those same lines though, the mere threat of legal action has served as the impetus for more than one state association over the years to backtrack on similar issues.
Fellows is no stranger to headlines. Earlier in his career he made a name for himself as the head coach at Grand Rapids Christian, where he went 80-30 overall, captured multiple conference titles and led the Eagles to the 2012 state tile while churning out a number of high profile prospects before spending 2020-2024 at Grand Rapids Union. There he took over a Red Hawks program that had historically struggled, losing 43 straight games and hadn't captured a W since 2015. His time there ended after a September 2024 OWI arrest, where he later plead guilty to operating with a BAC of .17 or higher and failure to stop after a collision, and he avoided jail time.
Kenowa Hills hired him ahead of the 2025 season. He has nearly three decades in the coaching profession, 18 of them as a head coach as well as some time as a junior college assistant coach in California..
The board's recommendations went beyond Fellows. It also led to the termination of the athletic director for what the district felt was retaliation against people who took part in the investigation, and a five-day unpaid suspension for the principal, all part of nine total recommendations.
For the time being, there are a lot of folks - in Michigan and beyond - watching how a coach taking on a state association and his school district plays out.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest, and see coach Fellows' full statement below.
