Hall of Fame football coach at Kingfisher has teaching license suspended by state board

A Hall of Fame football coach who once guided Kingfisher High School to a state championship had his teaching license suspended on Thursday, pending a revocation hearing, by a state Board of Education that ― after months of little action ― has begun aggressively acting on licensing issues.

Jeff Myers and one of his former assistant coaches, Micah Nall, were charged in the aftermath of a hazing and bullying lawsuit the Kingfisher Public Schools eventually settled for $5 million .

In February, the State Board of Education voted to refer the cases of Myers and Nall to a hearing officer pending applications to revoke their teaching certificates. Nall, who most recently worked in the Western Heights Public Schools in Oklahoma City, voluntarily surrendered his teaching license, an action which the board formally accepted Thursday. The board voted without comment after a closed session that spanned 3½ hours.

In October, Myers, who coached Kingfisher into the 2023 season, was charged in Kingfisher County District Court with felony child neglect. He was accused of condoning, permitting or deliberately ignoring wrestling and boxing matches in the football locker room between Aug. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2021. Myers has denied any wrongdoing and during a preliminary hearing, also held Thursday, a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence "to find probable cause that child neglect occurred because the state failed to prove the act was malicious and/or willful," according to court records.

The Kingfisher district placed Myers on administrative leave in October. Myers posted a record of 187-68 over 20 seasons (2004-23) at Kingfisher and guided the Yellowjackets to a Class 3A state championship in 2013 . He’s been inducted into the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Former player who filed lawsuit against Kingfisher Public Schools described experience as 'almost torture'

A former player, Mason Mecklenburg, sued Kingfisher Public Schools, the head coach and other coaches in 2021 after graduating. He called what he endured, particularly being whipped naked in the showers with wet knotted towels, as "almost torture."

Before the settlement was reached in October, a jury trial in the civil case had been set to begin Dec. 5 in Oklahoma City federal court. Cameron Spradling, who represented Mecklenburg in the lawsuit, deferred comment to the Mecklenburg family.

More: Kingfisher hazing lawsuit settles for $5 million after head football coach charged

"We are very pleased with today's action to suspend the teaching certificate of Jeff Myers and want to thank Ryan Walters, the State Board of Education, and the Oklahoma State Department of Education for taking the appropriate action to protect our children when other institutions, including the Kingfisher Independent School District and former OSDE administration, have failed to do so," said Justin Mecklenburg, Mason Mecklenburg's father.

"Coach Myers neglected his duty to protect the safety of students at Kingfisher Public Schools and today’s decision is a reflection of those failures. As a parent, you expect that your child will be safe from harm under the supervision of adult teachers and coaches. Our son, Mason, along with many other student athletes, endured years of hazing, physical and verbal abuse, and instances of sexual assault under the supervision of Coach Myers. We are hopeful that today's action will prevent future students from enduring the pain and torture our son experienced."

In addition to Myers and Nall, the board took action of some sort on the licenses of 37 other teachers, a month after the board took action on 17 licensing issues ― more than the board handled throughout all of 2023, state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters’ first year in office.

Among the 39 licenses affected Thursday was that of another former championship-winning football coach, John Q. Horner III. Horner, most recently a middle school teacher at Salina High School, was convicted of lewd molestation. After 15 former students sued Salina Public Schools, the district settled the case for $2.625 million . In the 1990s, Horner worked as an assistant coach at Northeastern State University when NSU won the 1994 NAIA football title , and later served as NSU’s head coach .

The state board announced Horner and 18 other teachers were “ineligible to renew” their licenses.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Hall of Fame football coach at Kingfisher has teaching license suspended by state board