No more Lee at A&T: Football coach fired today, Ragsdale takes over

from www.digtriad.com:

Greensboro, NC — North Carolina A&T State University announced Monday their head football coach Alonzo Lee was dismissed.

Lee was named head football coach January 2009 and finished the 2010 season with a 1-10 record.

According to a statement from the school, George Ragsdale, current A&T assistant head football coach, will serve as interim head football coach until a new head coach is named.

“Ragsdale’s collegiate and professional experience will prove to be beneficial to our football program during this time of transition,” said A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin, Sr.

The 2010 football season marked Ragsdale’s 12th season as an assistant football coach at A&T. He began his coaching career as an Aggie in 1983 when he accepted an assistant coaching position as a running back coach and recruiting coordinator under then head coach Mo Forte. After leaving A&T in 1988, Ragsdale served in various capacities including; assistant coach at Dudley High School in Greensboro, intern on the Washington Redskins coaching staff and as an offensive coordinator at Morris Brown College and Norfolk State University.

News and Record report CLICK HERE…..

FOX 8 Sports report CLICK HERE….

24 thoughts on “No more Lee at A&T: Football coach fired today, Ragsdale takes over

  1. Par for the course in aggieland. They screwed up big time when they let George Small go a few years ago. Get Alan Hooker on the phone.

  2. MAYBE THIS TIME THE PEOPLE IN AGGIELAND WILL HAVE ENOUGH BRAINS TO GIVE COACH RAGSDALE THE HEAD COACHING JOB. IT COMES A TIME WHEN U HAVE THE RIGHT COACH IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE. DON`T LET IT PASS YOU BY THIS TIME AGGIES.

    THANKS.

  3. What about Coach Steven Davis from over at Dudley? He’s an Aggie grad too….Davis from one Blue and Gold/Yellow at Dudley to the Blue and Gold/Yellow over at N.C. A&T…..

    Same colors and he could bring some of his own stuff and players too….Neal and Bell….Dominique and Demarcus….

  4. Rumor I heard this morning is that Lee was asked to make some changes to his staff (Offensive Coordinator) to be exact and I think he was reluctant to make those changes. So the School made the changes for him! If any came to a few of the games Ricky Lewis got in the game at QB and moved the team down the field on several occasions only to be taken out of the game down in the red zone.

  5. Coach Davis from Dudley High School is perfect for the job. He loves smash mouth football and can bring some local talent to A&T. I’d love to see him open up his offense (west coast). Ragsdale is also a great choice. He’s been around and has a lot of knowledge of the game. Davis and Ragsdale or Ragsdale and Davis either way you can’t go wrong.

  6. I’m an Aggie,been here all my life, but . . . . . I tend to agree with that Coach Phillips guy,seems like he’s on to something.Why you keep on getting Coach Ragsdale to patch it up ,when he (if given the opportunity they’ve given the two other ousiders after Coach Smalls) could be the answer? You just might be surprised ! Ran Hayes out,ran Smalls out, the outsiders were like 6-43? It’s right under your nose,but you can’t see the forest for the trees . . . . . .Give Coach Ragsdale a shot . . it show couldn’t hurt,he’s an Aggie ,he bleeds blue and gold throughout,he’s come every time they called,what else can you ask for . . .”blood” He bleeds blue and gold . it’s like Teddy P once sang”if you don’t know by now, you’ll never know . . .oooooooooooh”

  7. Innocent by stander has a good point as well,a Ragsdale /Davis combo,not bad Ragsdale offensive,Davis defensive . . .it’s your choice,keep it in the family though.

  8. Let James Renick coach this team since that seems to be where this downhill snowball got started………

  9. Bring back Hayes as AD and Maynard as Head Coach!! Both have proven records of success, together. WE WANT MAYNARD, WE WANT MAYNARD

  10. Its time we (as AGGIES) come to the realization that it is less about the X’s and O’s and more about the motivation of the youngmen who play the game. Each time the Aggies enter into a home they must be able that the most important aspect of college is building a legacy. The Aggies we all remember were “oh so special” you remember some of the best the Triad had to offer wearing the BLUE & GOLD. The Coach Ragsdale / Coach Davis debate is not the question, but can we convince some of the local talent to give NCA&TSU a chance. We have passed on so much talent by refusing become more proactive in our own community. I hope that this time the Aggies use this opportunity to end the many years of selfish decision making,and choose someone who will help rebuild the Aggies into a HBCU powerhouse.

  11. Isn’t Connell Maynor, the coach over at Winston-Salem State, a former QB at N.C. A&T? Would WSSU AD Bill Hayes let him get away, after working hard to get him back in the fold at WSSU? Didn’t Maynor start out over with the Rams and then join the Aggies as QB when Coach Hayes came over to Greensboro?

    A&T needs and Athletic Director and they need a football coach….Package deal again with Hayes and Maynor leaving Winston-Salem State and coming over to N.C. A&T?

    Maynor as the Aggie football coach and Hayes as N.C. A&T AD??? Is that within the realm of possibility at A&T?

  12. Any coach is doomed to fail at A&T if he is not allowed to at least spend 4- 5 years in a program. Its amazing how we fail to realize the fundamental fact about building a football program takes TIME, and lets not forget resources. The recent NCAA sanctions will affect and effect the next staff as well. The A&T problems will not be fixed by Connell Maynor or Bill Hayes unless the UNIVERSITY actually begins to support the program. The A&T program is in a terrible cycle of losing, and it starts with allowing the coach time to recruit, develop talent, implement a system and develop a relationship with the high school coaches in NC and the surrounding states. Every 2 or 3 years we are sending new coaches out to establish relationships – Heck, I wouldn’t send any player of mine to such an unstable program.

  13. I agree with Aggie Football Alumni whole heartedly. There is no stability at NC A&T not only in the football program or even the athletic program but the whole school. Think about it. In the last ten years we have had 4 chancellors(including interim chancellors), 4 athletic directors, and we are on our 5th head football coach. Nobody wants to send their kid to an unstable environment. If we cant recruit we cant win. When Coach Hayes was there we recruited well in our area and in the state from highschool and any player who went to a big school and didnt like it or wasnt getting the playing time came to A&T. This is a way bigger problem than just the head coach and basketball is the exact same. We havent been very good in basketball except for the two Steve Rush Jason Wills years where we finished 3rd in the conference but Coach Eaves still has his job?????……

  14. If the administration was telling Coach Lee to work on the academics side of the football team and get that in order, then why are they giving him the boot? If you want him to work on football, then let him coach football and if you want to him to focus on both sides in detail, the academics and the football sides, then give the man fives years….

    Like many of you are saying. How do you clean up a program and build a football team in just two years? Wouldn’t most of you say it would take at least five years to get a program in order with both on the field and in the classroom operations?????

    If you go (22-0) or (20-2) in two years, you’re going to be gone any way…..They need a five-year plan and a man that can know and understand that plan….

    I remember Hornsby Howell, Jim McKinley, Mo Forte, Bill Hayes, George Smalls, Lee Fobbs, George Ragsdale, Alonzo Lee and who else have we had in the past 25-30 years?

  15. I coached at A&T with Bill Hayes but had moved on before they did him wrong. There are way too many politics at A&T, it is all about who is buddies with who. I think it is wrong what they have done with Coach Lee. They only gave the guy two years to turn a program around that hasnt done well consistently since they fired Bill Hayes. On top of that, they are under NCAA sanctions and do not have as many scholarship players as the teams they are playing and this took place before Coach Lee was there. I think A&T is a football goldmine but you have to give a guy more than two years to get things turned around.

  16. What about the Coach that used to be at Dudley? Coach Victor Floyd. They ought to got get him and Mark Saunders and the old staff and bring them back. Goddette too. That’s when the Aggies was right!

  17. After the way they just dimissed Coach Lee who in there right mind would apply for this job, No respectable coach would take a chance on the mess that A&T has created.

  18. I think Coach Davis might be a good choice under different circumstances, but won’t he be at a recruiting disadvantage without the Academy to allow him to open doors that would otherwise be closed.?

  19. Come on! Give the coaches a chance to coach!!!!! This is just a bunch of damn meddling on the part of the Administration. I admire coach lee for not taking the easy way out—-too many people do. Look at the top dogs, the same people pushing coach Lee are the ones who have run the whole program down IMHO!!!!!

  20. I agree with Brothers Unite and I say if Coach Davis over at Dudley is interested in this job, then we need to unite and support him in his efforts….It’s time we banded and bonded together in this town and showed our support for one of our own…..We could make a difference as a group of vocal sports advocates…..Isn’t it time we supported a coach if he is in the community and if he is interested in this job….We can try and make a difference and it can be one that brings all the sports people and advocates together….Let’s Unite for a cause, cause it’s time we come together as Brothers and as Brothers Unite…..

  21. Hire a high school coach to take over a D-I football program? Really? A&T was absolutely atrocious in football and has been inexplicably bad for some time. Why keep someone to run things on a staff that was 1-10? Clean house and go get someone who is proven. That means the A&T administration may have to make a little effort to find the right coach. Hiring a high school, albeit a good one, is not the answer. At least find a coordinator at a larger school that has at least somewhat of a name. They paid Lee pretty well from what I understand…it shouldn’t be THAT hard to get someone interested.

  22. Lee made $145,000 as A&T head coach. That alone should garner interest from very good college coaches.

  23. Man, I love football and the Aggies, why are we so blind that we only think people whom have attended A&T would be the best coaches. Look at Cookman, etc…so tired of people with a narrow way of thinking. Take your time and ask the right questions, get a coach that have been successful with a college program and know how to recruit talent for th right positions. This is not a time for experimenting, this is the time for change and development of the program. Find a coach that believe in his craft.

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