St. Aug fires football coach, AD accused of mismanaging program

[gsutiger2002]

By Steven J. Gaither
Posted on September 24, 2019








CommentsOkesa Smith and Reginald Cooper were named interim head coaches on Tuesday

September 24, 2019

Williams has been accused of neglecting or mistreating student-athletes by at least one parent online. The primary gripe is a lack of resources for the football program, including a lack of a compliance director which ultimately led to more than a dozen ineligible players being taken away from Chavous just before the start of the season.

HBCU Gameday has reached out to St. Aug officials for comment on those accusations. We will update when available.

[Fightingscot82]

He at least deserves a scolding for an erroneous attempt at using scapegoat.

[kjb0615]

He at least deserves a scolding for an erroneous attempt at using scapegoat.

LOL I totally agree.

[kjb0615]

Reading some of the complaints from Parents and Athletes on social media, it seems they started the season disadvantaged without having a compliance officer to certify transfers and new recruits in addition to not having a strength coach. I don't know if all of that is true, but if that was this case, I don't see how that's the fault of the head coach.

[LegalRam]

Reading some of the complaints from Parents and Athletes on social media, it seems they started the season disadvantaged without having a compliance officer to certify transfers and new recruits in addition to not having a strength coach. I don't know if all of that is true, but if that was this case, I don't see how that's the fault of the head coach.

I don't blame this on the coach, but I'm not surprised about the outcome. George Williams wears two hats being AD and Track Coach, and its apparent his first priority is track. I mean he has won a ton of team national championships and was even the coach of the Olympic team in 04. That "football field" was really built for the track team and it took a few years for them to actually get the stands in there for them to play football games at the stadium, and that's the stadium named after George Williams.

St. Augs is in a tough place because track is what has put them on the map and you are almost afraid to do anything negative to George Williams. However, for a small school you need those extra 80 - 100 students enrolled in your school so you need to have a football team. The founding is not there so I feel corners are being cut all the time to make sure track thrives. Just look, when WSSU cut baseball after this past season their was a lot of outrage and explanation demanded from the AD's office; however, baseball at St Augs was terminated in 2018 without any type of notice or much of a whimper from anybody.

Until Williams is out of the AD role I wouldn't expect much from any team that's not Track or CC. VUU was in a similar position a few years back when their Football HC was also the AD. All of their sports were stuck, but look what happened when they made a change. The football team got better (made playoffs in 2015), and the women's basketball team has become a true force on the regional and national level.

[Eagle74]

Unfortunately, I've seen St Augs on multiple news reports lately, and what's being said is not positive at all. Bills aren't being paid (and are pilling up) for security and other much needed things to keep the school in good graces with the lenders and community. I believe we are sadly seeing an institution struggling on life support, and the prognosis doesn't look positive. I wish the very best for the students, athletes, and alumni, as this whole deal has to be very stressful and disheartening.