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| Virginia University of Lynchburg fired its coaching staff on Tuesday. (WSSU/Garrett Garms photo) |
It’s been a strange 48 hours for the football program at tiny Virginia University of Lynchburg. Sources told HBCU Gameday on Wednesday that coach Willard Bailey and his entire staff were fired. On Thursday, the Lynchburg News and Advance reported that Bailey will be replaced by defensive coordinator Luther Palmer.
Sources at Virginia-Lynchburg tell us the football staff has been dismissed http://t.co/WuvOiF3uws (@hbcugameday first mentioned)
– FootballScoop Staff (@footballscoop) October 23, 2013
The News-Advanced reached out to Palmer on Wednesday…and this is the response they got.
Contacted Wednesday night for comment on the new position, Palmer said he didn’t “know anything about that.”
Bailey told the paper he hadn’t been informed of any changes as of Wednesday, even though players tweeted about the firing as early as Tuesday.
#VUL names new football coach. Old coach says no one notified him of change >> http://t.co/v1tzuxzRqk #lynchburg @HBCUGameday
– Alicia Petska (@AliciaPetska) October 24, 2013
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js //platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsPalmer played tight end for Bailey at Virginia Union. VUL is in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association, and currently stand 1-1 after last week’s 58-20 win over Concordia-Alabama.
In the world of black college football, Virginia University of Lynchburg is something of a phantom program. You don’t really know they exist until they show up on your team’s homecoming schedule. According to the News-Advance, the fledgling program has an overall football budget of $275,000.
The school hopes to move up to Division II at some point, but there is speculation as to whether or not