Alabama State University has announced the school’s board of trustees voted not to renew Head Football Coach Reggie Barlow’s contract.
A nationwide search will begin immediately according to the school. Barlow compiled a 49-42 record in eight seasons as head coach, leading the Hornets to the 2010 SWAC Eastern Division title. The Hornets posted a 7-5 record in 2014.
“We thank Coach Barlow for his contributions to Alabama State University, as a student-athlete, assistant coach, and head coach,” Alabama State University President Dr. Gwendolyn Boyd said. Antonio Bradford has been named interim head coach.
Reggie Barlow’s attorney Don Jackson released a statement stating that the President, Athletic Director, and individual board members will be sued. (Full statement below)
In a phone interview following the release of the statement, Jackson said that the lawsuit will be filed before the end of the calander year. It will include more issues than just Barlow’s contract, including impications of his assistant coaches.
“Disappointment that a university that he has committed himself to since the first day of his freshman year in college would treat him in such a disrespectful. dishonest, nasty, abrasive, illegal, immoral, and fundamentally dishonest and fraudulent way,” said Jackson about Barlow’s feeling towards the board’s decision. “This is a university that now has aspirations to be Alabama, Auburn, USC, and the University of Texas, but has 1A high school money. They’ve held him to an unreasonable standard and violated the law in the process.”
Barlow was not able to talk to the football team today, but plans on doing so tomorrow.
Here is the full statement released by Reggie Barlow’s attorney in response to Alabama State’s decision:
“This afternoon Coach Barlow was notified by Human Resources at Alabama State University that the Board of Trustees voted not to renew his contract this past Friday. This has been widely reported in the news media. Today, he was advised that his final work day at Alabama State University would be December 31, 2014.
The actions of the Interim Athletic Director and President were in clear violation of Board policy and Friday’s Board actions violated state law. Coach Barlow’s non-renewal is the most recent act in a sad, pathetic history of institutional ineptitude by this University’s administration and Board. The recent criminal investigations, SACS investigation and removal of Board members are further examples of the degree of incompetence and unconscionable dishonesty that have permeated the administration of this University for decades. Further, there have been a number of examples of illegal actions taken by ASU Athletic Directors, executive level administrators and Board members in recent years that blatantly violated state and federal law; in that regard, this action was quite predictable.
Coach Barlow is quite appreciative of the support that he has received from loyal fans and supporters of his program over his tenure as a player and coach at ASU. He and his staff have performed extraordinarily well under trying circumstances which included his inheriting NCAA sanctions, APR sanctions that resulted from the University’s failure to adequately fund the academic support system for student-athletes, repeatedly losing key players due to academic ineligibility resulting from the University’s failure to adequately fund the Compliance Department, losing key Assistant Coaches due to the University’s failure to adequately compensate Assistant Coaches, inability to compete for high level student-athletes due to the public relations fallout from the ongoing administrative turmoil, criminal investigations and SACS investigation and having served under multiple Presidents and Athletic Directors (none with a vision for or the most elementary understanding of collegiate athletics). Notwithstanding that, Coach Barlow set a University standard for consecutive winning seasons in the Alabama State program.
The President, Athletic Director and individual Board members will be sued based upon their actions in the termination of a legally valid contract.”
