Alcorn State Handles Its Football Layoffs in Only the Most Professional Manner Possible

Darren Hamilton, the Athletic Director at Alcorn State, a HBCU in Mississippi, lacks both horrible timing and really poor communication skills. Not only did he fire seven of the team’s nine assistant coaches last week, he did so on Thanksgiving and without first-year head coach Ernest T. Jones’ knowledge. ↵↵⇥Jones said he was watching television at his home on Thanksgiving Day when he saw a report on the news that his coaches had been fired. ↵⇥↵⇥Jones said he was never notified the firings would occur. ↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥“I got a message from (Athletic Director Darren) Hamilton that said, ‘Happy Thanksgiving, I’m on vacation and we’ll chat Friday.’ We never chatted Friday,” Jones said.↵⇥

↵⇥↵⇥Jones said he did not plan to fire anyone and has received no explanation from Hamilton or the university.↵⇥

↵↵Appropriately, Jones has hired two lawyers to look into the matter. They claim there are grounds for a case here because the firing of basically the entire coaching staff prohibits Jones from carrying out the duties laid forth in his contract. Although assuming there is something about trying to win games in the contract, Jones wasn’t doing such a bang-up job of living up to his deal even with his assistants; Alcorn State only won two games this year.↵