Hollister High School in California decided to cancel the remainder of its high school football season amid an investigation. Additional details are not yet public.
However, the Haybalers were undefeated through their first three games.
This sudden high school football cancellation is two-fold. The investigation led to a lack of players.
Hollister canceled its remaining high school football season.
Hollister High School is located in San Benito County, California about 50 miles south of San Jose. It enrolls approximately 3,400 students in Grades 9-12 as one of the biggest high schools in the state. The Haybalers compete in in the Gabilan Division of the Pacific Coast Athletic League (PCAL) within the Central Coast Section (CCS) of the California Interscholastic Federation. They generally fall into the third division of the playoffs depending on yearly power rankings.
Hollister’s high school football team is highly regarded but did not have a lot of success in recent years. It finished below .500 in each of the last three seasons after going 9-2 in 2021 and 7-6 in 2022. Head coach Thomas Sullivan was hired to lead the program in 2025. He previously coached the offensive and defensive lines, tight ends and special teams before he was named as the junior varsity head coach, and then the varsity coach.
The Haybalers began the 2026 season at 3-0 by a combined score of 96-26. They were supposed to play against Alisal High School in Week 4 on Thursday. They decided to forfeit. It was announced with only a few hours until kickoff on game day.
Hollister did not provide a reason for the decision. It announced just four days later that the remainder of the varsity high school football season will be canceled.
The high school football team is under investigation.
Hollister High School canceled the season due to a lack of players. It comes amid an ongoing review of “a matter involving members of the varsity football program.” after head coach Thomas Sullivan was placed on administrative leave on Sept. 10.
“The district has made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the varsity football season. We recognize that this is disappointing news for our students, families, coaches and broader school community. We understand the time, effort, commitment and support that go into a high school athletic season, and we recognize the impact this decision has on those who have invested so much in the program. The district is currently reviewing a matter involving members of the varsity football program. At this time, the number of available student-athletes is not sufficient to safely field a team for the remainder of the scheduled games.”
District officials are unable provide additional details because the matter involves individual students. Nor can they say whether there are multiple unrelated investigations underway or if the recent events stem from only one single investigation.
The number of available student-athletes was “not sufficient to safely field a team for the rest of the season.” Given the amount of players on the team, that seems like a pretty important piece of information. If the investigation is tied to the numbers, that would mean a lot of players are part of the investigation. One player has since left the program.