it depends on who it is.
first, if i were doing all of this all for me, i wouldnt give a shit about anyone else, and the NCAA would have already been befriending me. so, it isnt just about me. i watched what the school did to our players (at least the ones who didnt produce up to the level they wanted). i heard what they did to other coaches (in football and in other sports- coincidentally, they were all white). i saw what they did to me. i saw what they did to a girl who was assaulted by one of our players. i could go on and on. the athletic department, though playing dumb now, allowed all of it to happen. when it was brought to their attention, they tried covering it up instead of doing the right thing. much of it they were already aware of.
the incident has shown me who the good people and cowardly people are.
one coach i was very close to is now at a P5 school. he urged me to do it. i mentioned him before. with coaches and players, he is one of the most respected coaches ive ever been around. as a human being, the guy is amazing. he will be a head coach someday. truly, a quality person, as are his wife and children.
another guy i was close to took a different route. he is a cookman alum/former player. his mom went to cookman. his uncle went to cookman. his brother went to cookman. if it is up to him, his children will go to cookman. he called me trying to get me to go after the former head coach for the money instead of the school. he claimed that it wasnt the school's fault, but rather, was the former head coach's. i told him i agreed with some of that, except that the athletic department was aware a year before everything that my money wasnt right. they were told weeks before the incident about it which is why a meeting was scheduled with everyone for the next day (which I requested so they could stop pointing the finger at each other). then, even after the incident, they tried giving me a check (which they admitted was for back wages) but only contingent on if i signed a document agreeing not to sue. not only was the check for far, far less than what i was owed, but the documents even showed the past months they were issuing the check for . . . in other words, they were agreeing they owed me money, were paying it (just a lot lower than they owe), but ONLY if i signed the agreement not to sue. it is against both state and federal labor laws to withhold wages in order to get somebody to sign an agreement not to sue. in order to get those documents where they admitted to owing me money, i had to trick them into giving them to me weeks later. then, when that happened and they realized i wasnt signing the agreement they wanted, they barricaded the door and refused to let me leave with the incriminating documents. but, i snapped pictures of them while the police officers were sorting everything out (while they were yelling at the police officers to not allow me to take pictures of them). there is a lot more drama involved, but that summarizes it.
so, that coach (the cookman lifer) finished the call by saying "well, i bleed cookman through and through. you know i went here, my family went here . . . all im saying is that i dont want to see what we built here ruined. ill do whatever it takes to protect cookman's name." it was a civil discussion, but we both made it clear how we felt. i told him i was shocked that one of the guys i thought was truly legit and knew the shit i had been through was saying those things to me. he made it clear that he would do whatever it took to not get cookman's name in the mud. i havent heard from him since (it's been over a year). it's a shame, because i think he is a good guy, but his allegiance made him a piece of shit in this situation. and, i was close to his son, who is going to be an absolute animal of a recruit in the future.
another coach who has won a national title at LSU and has coached at some big programs has been great. he reaches out just to say "hi," hits me up on holidays, always offers help if i want any jobs, etc.
another coach who i was fairly close to (i think he is an awful coach and an asshole in general, but he was a loner and always wanted me to go to dinner with him) texted me the day after the incident asking if i could give him a ride to the office (we are the only two who live on the beach side of the city, and his car was in the shop). i texted him back saying "sorry, cant help you, i was fired yesterday." his response was "what? are you serious? wow. im sorry. we will talk soon." i never heard back from him. i did see him a few weeks later when i was leaving the athletic department (during the payment incident). he tried talking acting like nothing had happened, but i ignored him. he is a huge, cowardly, pussy. i cant wait to tell him that to his face. in staff meetings, he would get absolutely killed by the old head coach. shit that should have never been said . . . embarrassing, humiliating, take your manhood type of stuff. and he would never say a word back. he would just sit there with his head down. he was out of a job one year, and it hurt his family (his ex-wife has custody of the children states away). so, he is a huge coward and gets eaten alive. but, he is an absolute asshole to everyone else (his players, waitresses at restaurants, etc.). he was the target of most of my pranks.
another coach is also a cookman lifer. he was on the other side of the ball, but he is a stand-up guy . . . former NFL player. he has coached under three or four different head coaches at cookman, and he never wants to leave. his daughter goes to school there. a school could offer to triple his salary, and he wouldnt take it. as long as he has money for a nice car and scratch-off tickets whenever he wants, he is content. he called a couple of times and apologized, but i cant expect anything more from him. i dont expect guys to risk their jobs for me.
another defensive coach is a coward. he loves it down here, so he wont ever leave. he and his wife run a successful company in virginia where she lives. his children are grown. he can live down here, get away from his wife, cheat as much as he wants, and dominate a conference that doesnt have explosive offenses. i never had issues with him, but i never liked him . . . and we never had to work together. he also only hires black coaches.
another coach was promoted to head coach. he is a quality guy. i like his wife and children. but, it is his one shot to be an HC. any relationship with me is impossible. he cant put his one shot in jeopardy for staying cool with me. we exchanged one text each after he was promoted.
another coach, a former P5 head coach, is cool. he came and lived with me for a while after the incidents until his new condo was finished.
another coach is a year or two away from retirement. he and his wife like this area, so they plan on staying fairly close to this area as soon as he retires. he just wants to ride out the final year or two without causing any issues that could hurt him.
another coach had been fired the year before but was retained as the player personnel director. he has also won a national title and coached at a lot of big places. he was mainly fired, because a lot of the other coaches didnt like him. he has some shadiness to him, and was hit with major violations in his career, but we were always cool. he is coaching at another FCS now. he hits me up every couple of months. i dont fully trust him, but i like him.
an operations guy who was aware of everything throughout the two years hasnt reached out. he was always cool. he would tell me all of the shit which was going on, but to retain his job, he couldnt go to bat for me (which i understand). he has been there a long time as a player, coach, operations, etc. He wants to be a good guy and knew what was happening to me. he just couldnt do much about it due to his limited power and not wanting to lose his job. his son, who i am close to and workout with, is an absolute animal. he already has offers from alabama, florida state, georgia, and every other school you can think of. good guy, but in a tough situation. im not sure how much he will spill under deposition just because he is a cookman lifer and needs that job.
the final coach was the only other guy (besides me) asked to go to alabama state. we were cool . . . the two youngest on the staff of full-time guys. before everything went down, he went to bat for me trying to get me out of there. he was owed $2500 by the school for moving expenses granted in his contract when he took the job (i had already been there a year when he came on board). after a year of fighting to get his money, he just gave up. he knew it was a scam. he went to alabama state and was promoted to assistant head coach, so he saw a substantial raise. he knows the HC there is a fraud, but he has a family to support and couldnt pass up the promotion and raise. i am surprised that he didnt reach out to me after everything went down. i helped that fvcker a lot when he moved here.
so, if i did this all for myself, i wouldnt care about any of those guys. the whole school would be on fire at this point if i didnt care about them. yes, im sure there is some repercussion for this. it isnt like it is a lead story on ESPN (though it did hit the national wire last year and was picked up by all of the major sports outlets). a month ago, an FBS head coach called me to inquire about their special teams coordinator position. i was one of three guys he was interested in for it. he asked what my schedule was like and said he would be in touch about getting me there for an interview. a few days later, he called to ask why my bio said "graduate assistant" on my page. so, i had to explain everything. even though im innocent and did nothing wrong, which i think he also believes, im sure the drama of the situation was a turn off. he called a few days after telling me not to pass up another opportunity if one comes that i want, because he was giving the spot to another guy he knows. i can only guess the lawsuit had an impact on that.
on the flip side, the happenings at an HBCU arent a secret, so im sure wise coaches understand the situation. when i left north texas, a handful of those coaches told me to get a year or two experience there and then get the hell out of there. it is no secret that most of these schools are shams. last year, a former Marshall player took a $35,000 pay cut to leave an HBCU to go to another FCS school just to get out since it isnt always good to have on a resume. and that $35,000 cut wasnt like $535,000 to $500,000 where there wouldnt be a major impact in lifestyle. people learn how to do things the wrong way being at a lot of these schools for too long.
