Three coaches have resigned and a fourth will not have his contract renewed in the wake of an investigation into financial irregularities in the Norfolk State University athletic department. Interim men's basketball coach Mel Coleman, associate men's basketball coach Erik Rashad and assistant track coach Simon Hodnett resigned Tuesday. NSU officials announced that men's track coach Steve Riddick will not have his contract renewed.
All four coaches had been under investigation since March when NSU announced that two coaches had been placed on "administrative leave" after a university audit found "questionable transactions relating to travel in certain programs." Rashad became acting head basketball coach and Hodnett took over the men's track program.
Now all four coaches are gone just days after new athletics director, Orby Moss started work. Moss' first day on the job was Monday.
Coleman, a longtime NSU assistant, took over the Spartan basketball program in May, 1998 when Mike Bernard was fired. When a national search did not turn up a suitable candidate, Coleman was named interim head coach for the 1998-99 season. He led NSU to a 15-12 record in their second year as a Division I program following a 6-21 inaugural DI season under Bernard.
Riddick, a 1974 NSU alum, who won a gold medal in the 1976 Olympics had been head coach of the men's track team for the past five years.
NSU has seen a lot of turnover since moving to Division I two years ago. In addition to the firing of Bernard, football coach Darnell Moore was fired at the end of last season. Longtime athletics director Dick Price announced his retirement in January and leaves the program today.
