Howard Feggins inherited a team at Saint Augustine's University (D-II - NC) that was coming off a 1-9 season and hadn't won more than two games in a season since 2017 when they finished 5-5.
Suffice to say, the coaching veteran knew some heavy lifting was going to be required to get things turned around as he took on his first head coaching opportunity at the college level.
Last Friday, on the eve of their game against Johnson C. Smith (D-II - NC), the school announced that they were dismissing Feggins, accusing him of playing ineligible players.
However, Feggins, who had been coaching since 1991, wasn't going to go quietly into the night, as he called a presser this week to voice some concerns with how things at Saint Augustine's have been handled since his hiring. The event was attended by close to 50 of his players.
First, he cleared the air on the playing ineligible players violation.
"It was a lapse on my part when we played Virginia Union, Kam Page, a student-athlete wore the jersey of a player who was no longer on the team and participated. He played three snaps on kickoff return."
Feggins would go on to share that he stopped receiving eligibility reports on players earlier in the season and the team's roster wasn't updated because the school did not have a sports information director in place.
The second ineligible player, who the school alleges played in five games, is actually part of a messy misunderstanding due to a jersey swap because his original jersey didn't fit well. Coaches knew, but the roster was never updated so the ineligible player's name was being called out for stats on game day due to the mix up.
Feggins says the school never properly investigated, and instead jumped to a conclusion that led to his dismissal.
That's not where this story ends though.
As the stadium was putting down new turf, Feggins shares that he emailed administration to set up a new place to practice, but needed proof of insurance from the school, and those emails went unanswered.
The result? Feggins says that they had to practice on concrete, and his pleas for assistance went unanswered until he threatened to forfeit an upcoming game.
“During the two weeks time I was sending emails to administration, trying to get the COI so that my team can have the best chance to compete on Saturday. I got no responseOne day I sent three emails to administration and never heard back."
"I was so frustrated about the lack of communication, but more importantly, the mental and physical well-being of our student athletes that I emailed the administration on forfeiting our Bowie State game.”
To make matters worse, the program also were without a full-time athletic trainer as well, meaning they could practice from 6am to 8am, but players had no trainer to assist beyond those hours.
Feggins also alleges that they were unable to get proper equipment ordered due to unpaid bills by the school and that the school was unable to afford to host campus visits for recruits.
Feggins had initially signed a three-year deal to lead the program before being dismissed last week.
If this sounds a bit familiar, it does have some similarities to concerns at another HBCU that had a new head coach.
Back in January, a frustrated Ed Reed went off on conditions around the Bethune-Cookman campus as he was set to take over the program as their new head coach.
Reed later apologized, and after weeks of negotiations, Bethune-Cookman opted to not move forward with the contract they had come an agreement in principle on.
Hear more from Feggins in the clip below.