College football

FAMU fires coach Joe

An investigation into recruiting and rules violations sped his fate.

By GREG AUMAN
Published June 15, 2005

Billy Joe would have entered his 12th season at Florida A&M this fall with the third-most wins among active Division I coaches, trailing only Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno.

But on Tuesday, with his Rattlers program in disarray amid an NCAA investigation of rampant recruiting and rules violations, FAMU announced it was terminating his contract two months before players report for practice.

"Even legends have to be accountable," said Challis Lowe, chairman of FAMU's Board of Trustees.

Since November, when athletic director Joseph Ramsey said he would not keep Joe as coach beyond the remaining two years on his contract, the only thing seeming to keep Joe at FAMU has been the university's financial problems. The Rattlers couldn't afford to buy him out, but even that obstacle was gone by Tuesday.

"A decision had to be made," said interim AD E. Newton Jackson, who cited the NCAA violations as reasons for the dismissal. "This was a very difficult decision, and (Joe) has been an outstanding guy, a class act. ... At this time, this institution has to move in a different direction."

Jackson would not comment on how much of Joe's remaining contract will be paid, or whether his contract had provisions to allow for termination for cause without pay. FAMU will not name an interim coach and will begin a national search for Joe's successor today.

Joe, 64, was making $135,000 a year.

He has 237 wins - including 86 at FAMU - but last year's 3-8 record was his worst in 11 seasons.

With three successful decades of coaching, Joe is a legend in Division I-AA football, but Lowe said that doesn't absolve him from being accountable for his share of the 196 NCAA violations discovered in an internal investigation that caused FAMU to be stripped of two Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships. The school still awaits potential penalty from the NCAA.

"One of the problems with a university like Florida A&M is that there are so many legends," Lowe said. "One of the difficulties associated with that is sometimes those legends are no longer appropriate for today. And it takes, I think, a lot of guts to come to grips with that and part ways. ... The situation in our football program and the NCAA violation we experienced and the issues that we faced, you know, there has to be accountability. Even legends have to be accountable."

Joe could not be reached for comment. FAMU also fired assistant coaches Mario Allen and Gregory Black on Tuesday, the last remaining assistants from last year's staff. Five other assistants resigned in February.

FAMU's incoming recruiting class includes two Tampa Bay area players, Middleton's Victor Arboleda and Claxton Perry. Middleton coach Harry Hubbard said Tuesday he expects both to take their scholarships this fall, regardless of the coaching change.

Times staff writer Ron Matus contributed to this report.

[Last modified June 15, 2005, 00:44:10]