On Tuesday Grambling football players walked out of an administrative meeting.
On Wednesday the football players joined together in skipping football practice. On Thursday they did so again and an interim coach was fired.
On Friday the team did not show up for a walk-through and, according to USA Today, the busses to take the team to a road game at Jackson State left campus without them after pushing back the departure time in hopes the football team would show up to represent the school. It is being reported Grambling will forfeit their game this weekend as a result. After a tumultuous week that has been nothing short of embarrassing and alarming for the university’s leadership, there are some serious issues Grambling needs to address.
In a season that has seen players voice their displeasure with the way they are treated, the actions taken by Grambling’s football players this week have taken things up a notch and could lead to drastic changes at Grambling, and perhaps other universities. It would be difficult to imagine the events at Grambling taking place at the FBS level, where schools have more funding available to provide adequate transportation and meals to players, but as college football evolves to a more slanted world of haves and have-nots, could this scene be played out at other universities? After all, if an entire football team can stick together like this, it can cripple a football program quickly.
For a university with a rich history and tradition like Grambling to go through a down time to this extreme is unfortunate, but to have a lack of leadership capable of avoiding this situation is worse. If the football team is not getting the proper respect, the question should be raised just how other teams and programs are being treated within the university. The football team tends to be the biggest bond for a university’s enrollment, alums, staff and community. When something like this happens, fingers will point to address blame.
Whether the players at Grambling are truly being mistreated or not is up for debate. There are always two sides to the story after all. But one thing appears to be clear. The leadership at Grambling has failed in supporting the football team. Whatever happens at Grambling moving forward, here’s hoping that a lesson can be learned at Grambling and other universities around the country so that we do not see this happen again.