Ex-WCU coach Kent Briggs

CULLOWHEE ó Asheville native Kent Briggs was fired as football coach at Western Carolina University on Nov. 12, less than two days after suffering a 79-35 loss to archrival Appalachian State University.

In addition, WCU dismissed Briggsí entire staff.

Briggs, 50, played and coached at WCU under the legendary coach Bob Waters.† He played quarterback for the Catamounts from 1976 to 1979.
He won his first game as coach ó a 23-3 victory over Liberty ó on Aug. 31, 2002. However, his six-year record was a dismal 22-42, including losing 18 of the last 19 games over the past two seasons. His only winning record was a 5-4 mark in 2005, when Briggs was beset with throat and neck cancer.

The Catamounts were 12-31 in the Southern Conference during Briggsí tenure, including a current losing streak of 14 consecutive league games.

He coached his last game for WCU this past Saturday, as the Catamounts (1-9, 0-6) played host to Furman.

Briggs has two years left on his contract, which pays $110,823 annually, and will be assigned to another job at the school, according to WCU athletic director Chip Smith.

Regarding Briggsí firing, Smith released the following statement: ìThis has been a hard decision to make. Kent is a hard worker and he and his family are respected members of the university community.

ìThis has been a difficult and trying season for everyone associated with Catamount football.
ìAs has been widely known, the football program has been under continuous evaluation for an extended period of time. There have been on-field improvements, but overall the program has not progressed as we all had hoped.î

In separate remarks, Smith denied allegations in the media that the firing was the result of the recent blowout against ASU.

Meanwhile, Briggs remained mum other than to issue a statement through WCU, noting, ìThis is a great university and I appreciate the privilege to have been a head coach here.

ìIt will always hurt my heart that we did not turn the corner with regards to the win-loss record, but I believe we are very close.î

The team was told of Briggsí firing in a 5 p.m. meeting on Nov. 12.

Briggs was given a three-year contract extension last season, worth more than $332,000, after WCU won its opening game. The program has sagged to 2-18 since then.

Smith also gave three-year contract extensions last year to assistant coaches Myron Jackson, David Napert and Don Powers. However, those extensions reportedly are now void because they included the requirement that Briggs still be the head coach.

The athletic director said a search for a new head coach would begin at once.

Sources said if Briggs had resigned as head coach it could have caused him to forfeit more than $221,000 in pay.

WCU officials asked reporters not to ask Briggs about his firing during the weekly SoCon teleconference on the morning of Nov. 13, but league coaches spoke up about their thoughts on his dismissal.

ASU coach Jerry Moore told reporters that his close friend Briggs was asked to resign and, when he refused, he was fired.

Moore questioned the timing of WCUís firing and said it should have been handled after the season was completed.

ìI know we are in a volatile profession, but why do people not wait until the season is over and handle things in a really classy manner, I do not know,î Moore said.

ìThey expect a coach and a staff and the players to do all the right things all during the year. Then somebody jumps the deal, and they go in there and ask a coach to resign, and then when he doesnít do it, they fire him. Itís not fair to him, his family, his staff, and ó more than anything else ó itís not fair to his players.

ìI hurt for Kent. I really do because heís a classy guy. I hurt because it was our ballgame and the score got out of hand.î

In separate remarks after the ASU-WCU game, Briggs said the Mountaineers did not purposely try to run up the score ó a stance that Moore took, too.

ìI love this program, and I love the Catamounts,î Briggs said. ìWhatever happens, I appreciate the kind of support that our players have given us and how hard our staff has worked. Catamount football is a family, and it will be a family deal on Saturday.

ìI look forward to this program moving in the right direction and great things happening to it over the next several years, which will happen,î Briggs noted.†