From Media Reports
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“I just want to get back, work and take care of these student-athletes – finish this year and a half … they (the administration) knew. I explained that to a lot of people, I’ve explained that to my student-athletes.” “I just want to finish what I started and I think God brought me back here to finish what I started. I just don’t want to walk away or be shoved out. I want to get the job done and I’m really upset it had to go this way.”
In a somewhat stunning announcement last week, longtime and highly decorated Saint Augustine University’s track and field coach George “Pup” Williams, who also serves as SAU’s athletics director, was let go from both positions in what the school described as a dispute about his role going forward.
The school announced his dismissal Wednesday (July 1) which was followed the same day by a statement from his attorney, Nicholas Sanservino Jr., which states that Williams had been “unlawfully terminated.” Later that day, David Bowser, the St. Aug’s head football coach hired last year by Williams, was named the interim athletics director.
“Coach will vigorously fight for his rights so he can continue to serve the students and greater community,” Sanservino’s statement read in part. “If there was ever an individual who should be able to complete his mission on his terms, it is Coach Williams.”
Sanservino said the university asked Williams to take a 50% pay cut and abandon his role as athletics director and move to a newly created position as Athletic Director Emeritus. According to Sanservino, Williams had to accept the position by the end of the meeting or else he would be terminated. “Coach was not in position to accept the position,” Sanservino said. “At which point he was handed a different letter in the meeting, terminating his employment.
“It’s a big disappointment”
On Thursday of last week, the school issued a statement which included the following intended to clarify the dismissal.
“While SAU’s track program continues to perform at a championship level, other areas of SAU’s athletic programs need significant development and focus,” the school said in the release. “SAU administration determined that a more robust athletic program with an expanded capacity across multiple sports categories and attracting more regional and national events to our campus needs to be cultivated under new leadership initiatives.”
The statement went on to say Williams was offered the opportunity to remain as head track and field coach and would be given a lifetime appointment as Athletics Director Emeritus but Williams turned it down.
“Coach Williams has been an integral part of the University for over 50 years,” interim President Dr. Maria Lumpkin said in the statement. “We appreciate his selfless dedication as well as his willingness to place Falcon Nation on a worldwide platform throughout his celebrated career.”
For his part, Williams spoke last Thursday from his home in Raleigh, N. C. to local television station ABC-11. Several of his former pupils, including 400-meter hurdles legend and Olympic and world champion Bershawn Jackson, were also there to support him.
“I think my major goal now is to finish the job that I started,” Williams said. “I was hurt but I was humble. And, I could have did a lot of things and said a lot of things, but I’ll let God do that.
“I’m still there. I don’t feel like I’m going anywhere.,” Williams said. “I just feel like this is probably a nightmare, you know?”
“He is the brand, you know he traveled all over the world with me to Olympic Games and he was there when I got my Olympic gold and bronze,” Jackson told ABC11, “and to get rid of your brand, somebody who brings a positive influence to the school, and brings in admissions, for me is heartbreaking.”
Williams, a 1965 St. Aug’s graduate, has brought national and international notoriety to the school and its track program since taking it over in 1976. In his 43 years at the helm, his teams have won 39 NCAA Div. II men’s and women’s track championships, the most of any active track coach in the nation, and he has coached more than 40 track Olympians.In 2004, Williams coached the U. S. Olympic track team.
In 2011, SAU opened the George Williams Sports Complex, a 2,500-seat stadium on campus.
Williams is a member of nine different Halls of Fame, including the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.
He became the school’s athletics director in 1997.
Williams returned to coaching for the university in early February after being involved in a near-death ATV crash in Qatar.
Williams told the media Thursday he wanted to coach two more seasons. There are athletes at St. Aug’s now that he wanted to prepare for the Olympics and after that, he was planning to retire. He also wanted to have a chance to win his 40th championship. Williams said the administration was aware of his plans to walk away in two years. “I just want to get back work and take care of these student-athletes,” Williams said. “Finish this year and a half … they (the administration) knew. I explained that to a lot of people, I’ve explained that to my student-athletes.
“I just want to finish what I started and I think God brought me back here to finish what I started,” said Williams.
“I just don’t want to walk away or be shoved out. I want to get the job done and I’m really upset it had to go this way.”