New Alabama State coach Brian Jenkins subject of abuse allegations
Former Bethune-Cookman coach Brian Jenkins is under fire after players and former assistant coaches said his program violated multiple NCAA rules and perpetuated an environment of abuse.
Jenkins was named the new head coach at Alabama State University in December, but the allegations from his former program have raised question about his current employment status.
According to the Montgomery Advertiser, who spoke with more than a dozen former players and four former coaches, allegation leveled against Jenkins include:
Improper benefits provided to players;
Improper housing arrangements;
Continued and extensive violations of the NCAA weekly practice time limits;
Failure to pay three assistant coaches that resulted in a federal lawsuit;
And, bullying of staff and players with retaliation against those who spoke up.
Bethune-Cookman assistant athletic director Tony O'Neal told the paper that any of the allegations that needed to reported were reported the NCAA.
Among those allegations, players said Jenkins threated linebacker Rahdeese Alcutt and defensive end Brandin Hudson with a steak knife during a pregame meal.
According to a letter Alcutt provided at the request of Bethune-Cookman officials as part of the investigation, a teammate accidentally spilled a drink and Alcutt began laughing. Because Jenkins doesn't allow talking at the pre-game meals, the commotion irked the head coach, Alcutt said.
"At this time, Brian Jenkins walked over to me and picked up a knife and pointed it at me and (Hudson) saying, 'Do I have to cut your (expletive) throats to get you to be quiet?" Alcutt wrote in the letter. Jenkins then stared at the two players for several seconds, he said.
The paper also noted three former assistants said Jenkins violated the number of practice hours allowed by the NCAA and the permissible number of days with contact.
NCAA rules mandate no more than 20 practice hours per week and no more than four hours per day. Players also must have at least one day off per week.
Former Bethune-Cookman offensive lineman Blake Pritchard told the paper the team was practicing 26 to 28 hours per week. And former tight end Isaac Virgin and Pritchard said the team would have two-a-day practices during the fall that would last, in total, up to eight hours.
But in fall camp in 2013, two weeks prior to Bethune-Cookman's first game, things finally came to a head, the players and coaches said.
After Jenkins surprised the team with a 1 a.m. practice — its third practice in 18 hours — there was a mutiny, the assistant coaches said. According to Pritchard, Alcutt and seven other players, the entire Bethune-Cookman team refused to leave the locker room for the next day's practice.
"We just had enough," former receiver Justin Henderson said. "People just don't understand how bad it was. I know it's football and everybody's supposed to be tough and all that, but man, this was a damn three-a-day we just had. That's just crazy."
Following the refusal to practice, the players said Jenkins locked the weight room and locker room and wouldn't allow anyone in for the next two days.
Several players also told the paper they were left without housing for parts of the year because the university only paid rent through May, leaving many players to sleep on the floors of the houses of teammates and one player claimed he slept in his truck.
While many assistant coaches interviewed said the housing issue was more about the university than Jenkins, several players blamed Jenkins for not doing more or speaking up to the university about the housing problems.
Alabama State interim athletic director Melvin Hines said he knew about the allegations and that he made ASU trustees and ASU president Gwendolyn Boyd aware of the allegations before Jenkins’ hiring on Dec. 16. But board members and trustees told the Montgomery Advertiser they were not aware of the allegations.
Jenkins was 46-14 during his five seasons at Bethune-Cookman and was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year three times. His contract with Alabama State was approved following a Feb. 5 board meeting.
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