The WSSU football team is 1-4 on the field and missing one of its coaches.
Nick Calcutta and the athletic department reached an agreement that Calcutta could no longer be the Ram offensive coordinator because he was accused of making a racial epithet during a team meeting.
“In the best interest of the football program, the team, the athletic department and the University, mutual separation was the right thing to do,” athletic director Chico Caldwell said in an interview with the Winston-Salem Journal.
Caldwell said that the [athletic department’s] decision was harsh, and a swift response was called for to allow time for ample research and to look into all the details to make a final decision.
Calcutta had coached the first game and was suspended indefinitely by the second game.
By the third game he had submitted his resignation.
“When you are dealing with sensitive issues, you have to think about this in the best interest of the University,” Caldwell said. “It was not just about an individual. It was a combination of circumstances.
“Coach Calcutta is a good man and a heck of a football coach,” Caldwell said. Calcutta was in his second season with the Rams.
“Just one bad decision cost a lot.” Caldwell said that Calcutta’s public image is now tainted.
“That’s the irony of all of this. It’s all over the words that we say, and all of a sudden it’s a crime.”
During a mandatory meeting with the student athletes on Sept. 23, Caldwell said the ‘N’ word and the ‘B’ word are banned in the department.
“There is a lot of diversity on this campus. When we start using these words, we are no longer in an environment with just black folks.”
At least on student athlete thinks Calcutta was treated unfairly. Senior softball player Kendall Sutton said, “If they had given him a chance to explain himself, things would not have turned out the way they did. “He should have received a suspension from a game instead of being asked to resign,” Sutton said. “We use it [N word] everyday, but there are no consequences.”
Head football coach Kermit Blount refused to comment about Calcutta. “I am just focused on the future of the season,” Blount said.
When the Rams take on FAMU Oct. 9, Blount will assume the offensive coordinator’s responsibilities. This match-up will be televised on ESPNU.