Buddy Stephens claims he was not fired by East Mississippi Community College. The ‘Last Chance U’ head coach appears to be in talks with the administration about the unexpected split and his future— but not yet with the school president.
It is all very awkward.
This latest college football saga is likely just beginning. The only way it will reach a fast conclusion is if the two sides agree on a fair severance package.
Buddy Stephens was relieved of his duties at East Mississippi Community College.
East Mississippi Community College hired Buddy Stephens as its next head football coach in 2008. He won five national championships, nine conference championships and nine division titles in 18 years. The Lions won 155 games with only 31 losses over the course of his tenure. However, they have only played in the national championship game one time since 2018 and lost.
It is a question of “what have you done for me lately?”
Plus, Stephens is often described by his colleagues as someone who is difficult to work with. His former players have said that he worked them extremely hard, which sometimes crossed a line.
Regardless of what people think of Stephens, he won a lot of football games. Until he didn’t. The rest of the sport caught up with East Mississippi Community College in recent years. The Lions were not as dominant in recent years as they once were.
Stephens finally ran his course.
The school announced on Monday that associate head football coach and offensive coordinator Preston Rice was named as the interim head coach. That, obviously, means Stephens is out. It was widely reported as a firing.
He claims he was not fired.
It appeared as though East Mississippi Community College made the decision to fire Buddy Stephens because of his comments about the school and conference’s decision to change postseason requirements and to extend the regular season. His outburst in the local media was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Except the situation remains unresolved…
Lucas Hill of Southern Sports Scene says there is “more to this Buddy Stephens story than you know.” The head coach was not on the sideline for East Mississippi’s season-opening win on Thursday. He was relied of his duties on Monday. He was not fired.
“Buddy Stephens has not been fired by East Mississippi Community College. At this time, Stephens has been relieved of his duties and has not yet met with the President regarding the situation. Stephens did meet with Human Resources earlier Monday, and additional details are expected to be released as the situation develops. At this point, it would be inaccurate to characterize Stephens as having been fired or terminated. His current status remains unresolved, and more information is expected to become available over time.”
I, personally, view a person who is relieved of his/her duties as getting fired. That is not necessarily the case in a court of law. They are technically two separate things. To be “relieved of duties” is not always the same as being “fired.”
The wording here matters.
If the school was to fire him with cause, the head coach could turn around and sue. If he is fired without cause, he would be owed a lot of money. Stephens is likely working behind the scenes with East Mississippi on a buyout. More details to come.