The recent dismissal of Owls’ head coach Brian Bohannon rallied Kennesaw State football alumni from all classes to the defense of their coach.
On Sunday, after the Director of Athletics, Milton Overton announced that Bohannon had opted to step-down as head coach, Bohannon responded on X by claiming he did not resign, but had been terminated.
Overton and KSU administration faced heavy backlash on social media and from local media, including a piece by Ken Sugiura in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution titled “In KSU’s botched dismissal, Brian Bohannon deserved far better.“
Following the backlash, Overton released a second statement regarding the situation.
“Over the last three years, the results on the football field failed to support our goal of building a competitive FBS program,” Overton said in the statement. “Therefore, I determined it was time to make a leadership change to take the football program in a new direction. I advised Coach Bohannon of my decision, and, as is customary, offered him the opportunity to announce that he had stepped down. At the conclusion of our meeting, it was my understanding that Coach Bohannon had accepted my offer.”
Much of the negative response came courtesy of Owls football alumni.
“I trust Brian Bohannon more than anybody I can imagine,” Trey White, the program’s first starting quarterback said. “When I heard that he stepped down, I was very confused because I know the man. He would not quit on his team in the middle of the season . It was very frustrating to me and my former teammates how it was handled. The man deserves a statue on campus, not a midseason firing”
Taylor Henkle, a former defensive back and the Owls’ first all-conference selection said the news was shocking and disappointing.
“(Bohannon) was by far one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Henkle said. “(When I got the news) it was a complete shock to me. One, just when it happened, with three games left in the first year of FBS – This was a pretty erratic decision to just do it the day after a game. I completely disagree with it, I hate it for all the coaches, I hate it for coach Bohannon, I hate it for the players. It’s very unfortunate.”
Former Owls’ defensive lineman Barclay Miller, who serves as the president of Owls Collective, the official KSU athletics name, image and likeness collective, and is the color commentator for KSU football radio broadcasts called the handling of the situation disrespectful.
“I would’ve liked the heads up and I didn’t get that,” Miller said. “I was pretty upset about that. And then the way in which it was handled, was nothing short of disrespectful to coach Bohannon. We’re talking about a guy that deserves a statue on (KSU’s) campus, not a guy that deserves a midseason firing.”
One of the frequent cases made by those who were in favor of retaining Bohannon is the lack of resources the head coach was provided by the university. According to Miller, the football program’s NIL budget was no more than $5,000 and many of the program’s facilities have remained untouched and unexpanded since they opened roughly a decade ago.
Former Owls’ defensive lineman and graduate assistant Nick Perrotta, who currently serves as head football coach at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School said with the current state of the facilities, it is difficult to attract the desired level of high school talent
“My personal belief is that the resources have not been given to the university as a whole, the athletic department as a whole,” Perrotta said. “There was a rendering in the football office back in 2019 of how we were going to close in the stage side of the stadium and put seating on the outside of it. It was going to be a five-story not just football, but athletics building – none of that’s come to fruition. The football office is still in an office warehouse complex where it was 10 years ago. It’s bursting at the seams at capacity. There’s a weight room, there’s coaches office, there’s a meeting room, but then you drive a mile to Fifth Third to the locker room, you walk three quarters of a mile over to the perch and practice. It doesn’t feel very FBS football if you’re trying to recruit.”
White echoed Perrotta’s frustration, calling it embarrassing that the program’s facilities have not advanced since his playing days.
“To learn that every facility is the exact same from 10 years ago I think shows you the type of support the football program has gotten from AD Milton,” White said. “If we want to be successful and compete with rivaling programs, we have to have better football facilities. I think it’s embarrassing that they have the exact same facilities they did when I was there.”
Devin Pughsley, another former defensive lineman started a petition calling for the removal or resignation of Overton and called on KSU president Kathy Schwaig to take action.
“Absolutely (Overton should be dismissed or step down),” Pughsley said. “He should step down, but the problem is he’s not going to. So this is where President Schwaig needs to do the hard thing.”
More than 100 alumni backed the KSU football alumni statement posted on Miller’s X account according to Miller. The list includes as follows:
Nick Perrotta, Izzy Sam, Jordan Genovese, Mikey McIntire, AJ Burton, Kyle Glover, Will Cape, Peyton Moore, Je’Cory Burks, Tanner Jones, Adeolu Adeleke, Terrell Paxton, Dante Blackmon, Tremayne Trawick, TJ Reed, Duronte Carter, Zachary Blaylock, Levonte Larry, Evan Thompson, Arlie Weber, Matt Warren, Maceo Inman, Jesse House, Tommy Bryant, Trey Chivers, Wes Simonton, Taylor Henkle, Will Flowers, Cam Blackburn, Justin Marcus, Caleb O’Neal, Zach Mitchler, Kareem Taylor, Isaac Foster, Demetrius Pettway, Barclay Miller, Joseph Alexander, Brent Wimberly, Savon Simmons, Jacob Potter, Warren McWilliams, Chris Byrd, Dustyn Moore, Darnell Holland, Zion Katina, Drew McCracken, Devin Pughsley, Luther Jones, Dallas McGee, Zach Taisler, Cade Lodon, Bryson Armstrong, Tristan Love, Shaq Terry, Chaston Bennett, Trey White, Jonathan Murphy, Sam Outlaw, Nick Jones, Peter Rohan, Chiaza Nwadike, Cole Loden, Kelcy Allen, Miles White, Tonarius Portress, Brett Gillespie, Dorian Walker, Cincere Mason, Jace White, Xavier Harper, Anthony Gore, Ben Otiwu, Marcus Thurman, Keyani Grier, Bronson Rechsteiner, Justin Thompson, Shawn Reynolds, McKenzie Billingslea, William Nana Fabu, Jack Ness, Daniel David, Tyler Moore, Randy Jones, Gordon Gray, Xavier Reddick, PJ Stone, Matt Olson, Mason Harris, Brandon Simmons, Auzoyah Alufohai, Cherish Comfort, Brandon Sutton, Troy Henderson, Travis Bell, Jake Roberts, Jordan Walker, Chavis Marshall, Derrick Farrow, Clayton Nelson, CJ Collins, Andrew Butcher, Bert Birdsall, Chris Dye, Kyle Arrasmith, Zach Thompson, Markeith Montgomery, Tripp Pearson, Terry Davis, Miles McGinty, Nathan Robertson, Keon Roman and Pedy Leverette.
