Violations cost Joe his job at FAMU
Florida A&M University announced last Tuesday at an afternoon press conference that it was terminating the contract of William "Billy" Joe, the winningest active coach in NCAA Div. I-AA and amongst black college coaches, due to violations of NCAA rules within his football program.
"We truly regret having to make this move today," said FAMU Interim Athletic Director E. Newton Jackson. "Coach Joe and his staff have given many years of quality service to the football program and the university.
"However, rules compliance must be paramount in any program, and
given the fact that we are under intense NCAA scrutiny at this time, we felt it
necessary to address any program concerns in an expeditious manner to protect the
integrity of the institution and the athletic program," Jackson concluded.
The university's athletic program has undergone a self-investigation into possible NCAA rules violations, which is a followup of the school's own self disclosure last summer of 196 possible infractions.
A search for a permanent head coach will begin immediately and will be overseen by an eight-member committee named this week. Jackson said the school will be taking applications until June 30, and reportedly told players he'd like to have a new coach in place by July 10.
In addition, the contracts of two assistant football coaches - assistant head coach/offensive line coach Gregory Black and running backs coach Mario Allen - will not be renewed. Their current contracts were to expire June 30.
Joe, whose 237 overall victories (237-108-4) tops both the black college and I-AA lists, served as head football coach at FAMU for 11 seasons (1994-2004), compiling an 86-46 record, with one Black College National title in 1998, four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles (1995, 1996, 2000*, 2001*) and seven postseason appearances between 1995 and 2001.
Before coming to FAMU Joe led Central State University for 13 seasons (1981-93) compiling a 120-30-4 record winning NAIA national titles in 1990 and 1992 and Black College National titles five times.
He also spent seven seasons as the head coach at Cheyney State (1972-78) posting a 31-32 record.
Florida A&M will report "well over 200'' violations by the athletic department to the NCAA, up from the 196 it reported last summer, and recommend scholarship cuts in every sport after a nearly three-year internal investigation.
That announcement Thursday came just days after Joe was fired. The school's findings were forwarded to the NCAA earlier this week, with a list of recommended restrictions, sports information director Alvin Hollins said.
"We're cutting scholarships in virtually every sport. At least one will be cut in every sport, some will have more than one cut,'' Hollins told The Associated Press. "Some sports will definitely have some restrictions in recruiting. We're also making some severe cuts in our operating budget.''
The NCAA is still in the midst of its own investigation of Florida A&M, and a ruling on the infractions and any restrictions is expected this fall.
Among the violations announced by the school in a release Thursday were: Ineligible athletes allowed to compete, improper conduct of coaches concerning a change of grade, recruiting violations and violations of practice time rules.
"We could be looking at multiple years of probation,'' said Hollins, who added that the school may be forced to refund money from NCAA basketball tournament appearances.
"The investigation was the continuation of the one that showed 196 NCAA rules violations throughout Florida A&M's athletics program and led to the school stripping itself of 11 conference (MEAC) titles, including two in football.
Hollins said that was the midpoint of the school's investigation, and the school feels that the number of violations is now "well over 200.''
"Compliance and academic support, our failure to upgrade those areas, led to a lot of the problems we have had. ... We just didn't have the proper institutional control,'' Hollins said.
Joe was one of the school's most successful coaches.
"I think in his case this was a direct result of recruiting violations, exceeding practice times ... violations of NCAA rules were definitely the dynamic in moving Coach Joe,'' Hollins said. "We held him accountable for the program. You can't afford to look like you're just slapping people on the wrists.''
The football program has had a series of problems, beginning when it made an ill-advised attempt to jump to Division I-A. The move was aborted and the school will return to the I-AA Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference this season.
"The timing probably couldn't be any worse,'' Hollins said.
Financially, athletic programs are struggling and the department budget was cut 20 percent last year.
More cuts are probably likely, Hollins said.
"We were at least $3 million over budget last year, and based on the income projection it's not looking like we're going to balance the budget,'' he said.
© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.