The salvoes continue in the ongoing saga of fired Alcorn State football coach Ernest T. Jones and his fight to retain his job.

Jones timeline

Dec. 12, 2007 – Alcorn State hires Ernest T. Jones as head coach.

Nov. 27, 2008 – Alcorn fires seven assistants.

Dec. 2 -Jones informed of decision to fire assistants.

Dec. 11 -Jones’ attorney states that he received a letter stipulating that Jones was fired by Alcorn.

Dec. 12 -Dr. George E. Ross, Alcorn’s president, states that “Ernest Jones is the head coach at Alcorn State University.”

Jan 28 – Jones is fired by Alcorn State.

Jones’ legal team leveled accusations that various members of the Alcorn athletic department, including athletic director Darren Hamilton, spent his entire tenure trying to undermine the first-year coach, who was fired officially on Wednesday after a 2-10 record.

As for the school’s search for a new coach, Alcorn president Dr. George E. Ross says that the school is formulating a plan of action to find Jones’ replacement. A search firm might be contacted to assist in the search.

“We’re still going through a list of names for a search committee,” Ross said. “But at this time, we’ve got no list of candidates. It’s going to be a wide open search and we’re going to find the best coach out there for Alcorn.”

The school will announce an interim coach later today.

As for Jones, he continued to fire away through his legal team.

According to Ian Guerin, the public relations spokesperson for the Lefft Law Firm of Columbia, S.C., which is representing Jones in his lawsuit against the school, Jones was promised in his contract that he would have “complete control of the football program.”

Alcorn State’s administration asserts that they fired Jones for cause, listed in a statement as “on the grounds of malfeasance and contumacious conduct.”

“We did not file a lawsuit,” Ross said in an interview on Wednesday. “We are simply reacting to something forced on us.”

Also, Jones’ legal team asserts that the grievance hearing on Jan. 16 to decide Jones’ fate was merely a rubberstamp for Ross’ decision to fire the coach. Guerin said that the committee was packed with people “with a vested interest in Jones losing his job.”

“We received the recommendation (from the grievance board hearing),” Ross said on Wednesday. “We took it very seriously.”

One of those, Guerin said, was Hamilton, who was a candidate for the head coaching position. Hamilton, who previously worked at Eastern Washington, was hired as Alcorn’s AD on April 1, 2008. Hamilton sat on the committee that heard Jones’ grievance about his firing and rejected his claims.

“He got no such thing as a fair shake,” Guerin said. “The board had a vested interest in getting rid of Jones. It was a complete sham. Hamilton was a roadblock to Jones’ success and was on the list of other candidates for the coaching job (when Jones was hired).”

One of the other bones of contention was the firing of seven coaches from Jones’ staff, which occurred before Thanksgiving. The staff received notes in their mailboxes. They were later reinstated by Ross.

“Coach Jones was not a part of those conversations with Hamilton,” Guerin said about the firing of the assistants. “It was a power grab.”

Another contentious issue, Guerin said, was the facility improvements that were promised in Jones’ contract. When the Braves played a road game at New Mexico State on Oct. 4, the money earned from the trip was to be allocated to a new weight room. The weight room was never built.

Guerin said Jones didn’t sign his contract until August, some eight months after he had been originally hired. The legal team also corrected the amount of damages Jones seeks in the lawsuit. Jones is seeking $3 million vs. the $3.5 million quoted in several reports on the case. But in the end, Guerin said that Jones just wants his job back.

“This is not a money grab,” Guerin said. “He loves his alma mater and wants that job back.”

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.