Last Updated on November 14, 2007 7:02 pm by admin
EDMOND, Okla. (AP) -Central Oklahoma will not bring Chuck Langston back as coach of a football program that recently admitted breaking numerous NCAA rules during his five-year tenure.
Langston, a former starting center for Oklahoma, was 29-24 as coach of the Bronchos of Division II, but the university admitted earlier this month it had a lack of institutional control over a program accused of providing free housing, food, transportation and use of facilities to football players who were not full-time students. The NCAA also alleges that Central Oklahoma paid for athletes to attend remedial classes at another college and for a surgery for an athlete who later enrolled at the school.
“This was an extremely difficult decision for me because I have enjoyed my relationship with Chuck Langston,” university President Roger Webb said in a statement Wednesday. “However, for the future of the program, I believe a change must be made.”
In its response to the notice of allegations from the NCAA, Central Oklahoma denied that football coaches provided impermissible cash payments for a class at Rose State, a two-year college, and that a coach provided $200 in cash to a potential recruit. However, the university admitted to the serious institutional control allegation and said Langston “failed to ensure absolute compliance with NCAA legislation within the sport of football between January 1, 2003 and September 2006.”
Because of the ongoing investigation, Langston was suspended for the first two games of this season, including the Bronchos’ upset of nationally ranked Abilene Christian in its season opener. The university also forfeited two full football scholarships, limited the number of transfer students recruited and reduced the Bronchos’ maximum number of football players from about 100 to 90 per year as part of self-imposed sanctions.
Central Oklahoma finished this season 4-6.