EMCC coach of ‘Last Chance U’ fame fired after 18 seasons, 5 national titles, for critical comments
By Andrew Olson
Published:
A coach familiar to fans of the Netflix series “Last Chance U” is out of a job. East Mississippi Community College has fired coach Buddy Stephens after 18 seasons with the program.
Stephens was dismissed after recent comments made to The Commercial Dispatch that were critical of changes to the season schedule and playoff format made by the Mississippi Association of Community Colleges Conference. Stephens called the MACCC “idiots” for adding one game to the regular season and altering the playoff format to include only division championships, instead of the top two teams from each division.
Stephens won 5 national championships in his East Mississippi tenure. He was upset by the MACCC’s postseason changes in relation to the national playoffs, noting that two of EMCC’s titles would not have been possible under the new format.
“We wouldn’t have won two national championships because we were the second-place team in the North [division]. It’s not a very well thought-out process,” Stephens told the Dispatch on Thursday. “It was really junkified, the way they decided they were going to do it, and there wasn’t a lot of real thought. I was very surprised at how it came out because there were actual people who have doctorates that came up with this.”
Stephens’ comments did not sit well with his superiors. Per the Dispatch, EMCC President Scott Alsobrooks announced Stephens’ dismissal in a statement posted to social media.
In a statement posted to Facebook on Monday and credited to EMCC President Scott Alsobrooks, EMCC said it “strongly disavows the remarks published in a recent article. These comments are inconsistent with the college’s core values and standards of professionalism, respect, and civility and do not reflect the views, mission, or expectations of EMCC. While the college supports open and constructive dialogue, personal attacks have no place in that discourse and are contrary to the standards we uphold within our college community. EMCC sincerely apologizes for the concerns raised by these comments and remains committed to fostering a respectful, professional, and collegial environment for all.’
Stephens led EMCC to a 155-31 record over 18 seasons, winning national championships in 2011, ’13, ’14, ’17 and ’18. The Scooba, Mississippi school was featured on the first 2 seasons of Netflix’s “Last Chance U” series. Among the players with SEC ties coached by Stephens in the show were John Franklin III (Auburn), Wyatt Roberts (Mississippi State) and Chauncey Rivers (Georgia/Mississippi State).
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
