Brian Bohannon: I didn't resign, I was fired (Updated)

Brian Bohannon was the only head coach Kennesaw State had ever known, guiding the program from its inception until Sunday while winning 72 games against 38 losses along the way. 

Eight of those losses have come this season, Kennesaw State's first in FBS, and so it was decided that someone else will lead the program beginning in 2025.

Only, who came to that decision became a matter of dispute.

"Coach Brian Bohannon informed me this morning that he has decided to step down as our head football coach," Kennesaw State AD Milton Overton said in a statement. "I want to express my sincere appreciation to Coach Bohannon and his family for their dedication to Kennesaw State University and our football program over the past 11 years. Coach Bohannon led Kennesaw State into the football era, poured his heart and soul into this program, and represented our university with the highest standards of professionalism and character." 

Hours later, Bohannon released a statement of his own. 

"This morning I was informed directly from AD Overton that he was making a change in leadership. Contrary to what’s been reported, I want to be clear that I did not step down from my position as head football coach at Kennesaw State University," Bohannon tweeted. 

"Since we started the football program, I have had the pleasure of coaching and working alongside so many great people. I appreciate your hard work and dedication to this program."

There are always two sides to every story, and most often the truth lies between someone's intentions and another's interpretation. But it's hard to find the middle ground here. Either Bohannon informed Overton, or Overton informed Bohannon.

The burden of proof here resides with the school. Dozens of programs fire coaches for a multitude of reasons every year, but firing your program patriarch when he understandably struggles in its first season of college football's top division comes off looking callous, if also pragmatic. Both of those things can be true. 

At the end of the day, Kennesaw State will have a new head coach next season either way, but this is a bad look for the school if they're trying to spin a firing as a resignation.

As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.

Update: Kennesaw State AD Milton Overton released a statement Monday indicating it was his decision, not Bohannon's, to make a head coaching change, and that the mix-up in wording was due to a misunderstanding between the two men. At the end of the day, though, Bohannon was fired.