ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 13, 1996 TAG: 9612130082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Bill Stewart resigned Thursday after three seasons as VMI's head football coach amid reports he used a racial slur during a team practice.
According to a VMI athletic department news release, Stewart, 44, resigned ``for person reasons'' and will relinquish his duties immediately. Although it was a sudden announcement that did not reveal the reason for the move, the incident that led to his resignation apparently occurred before the Keydets ended their season with a Nov.23 loss at Appalachian State.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported in today's editions that several unidentified sources said Stewart directed a racial slur at one of the team's black players during a late-season practice. The Times-Dispatch said Stewart apologized to the team soon after the incident, but an internal investigation followed and culminated Thursday in the coach's resignation.
``He apologized for whatever wrongdoing he may have committed in player relations,'' said Heath Edmiston, a junior offensive tackle for VMI, told the Times-Dispatch. ``I don't want to come out and say what happened. I don't want to hurt anybody right now.''
Stewart had four years left on a contract extension he signed March 18. He will receive a year's severance pay in a lump sum of $73,000. He also will be allowed to continue living in a school-owned home on VMI's campus until March 31.
Stewart was not in Lexington on Thursday and VMI officials said they did not know his whereabouts. Neither he nor any of his assistant coaches could be reached for comment. His most recent public appearance was Sunday during the postseason VMI football banquet in Natural Bridge. Stewart spoke at the banquet, but only briefly.
Superintendent Josiah Bunting and athletic director Davis Babb have formed a search committee to find Stewart's successor. All of his assistant coaches are under contract until Jan.31 and have been told they will be retained. A new coach could be named in as little as a week.
A source said that because the announcement came in the middle of recruiting season and because of the school's desire to keep some continuity in the program, the new coach likely will come from the current staff, which has a wealth of Division I coaching experience. However, none of the current assistants has collegiate experience as a head coach.
Stewart never had been a head coach until he came to VMI in December 1993 after a four-season stint as the defensive line coach at the Air Force Academy. He immediately infused the VMI program with excitement, often using military rhetoric in his speech. Stewart also pledged to rebuild VMI's program by recruiting players in the state of Virginia, where the Keydets had little recent success.
Under Stewart, VMI had a knack for timely victories. A previously winless 1994 season ended with a 26-23 victory at nationally ranked Appalachian State. The next season, VMI won three Southern Conference games for the first time since 1981 and beat Liberty when the Flames were ranked in the NCAA Division I-AA poll.
The 1996 season saw the Keydets lose their first six games, but they beat their two archrivals, The Citadel and Richmond. The season also saw running back Thomas Haskins, a person Stewart fancied his 2-year old son, Blaine, growing up to be like, set the career Division I-AA rushing record with 5,349 yards.
Stewart, an optimist who had a crusade to silence ``the naysayers'' by leading VMI back to football respectability, always spoke glowingly of his team. In the midst of the team's losing streak this season, Stewart said, ``Some people say we're playing like dogs. Well, they're my dogs and I love 'em.''
After the season, Stewart called for a greater commitment from everyone within the program and everyone outside the team who supported it.
``I'm tired of fighting with rocks and clubs,'' Stewart said, ``when everybody else has machine guns.''
Despite the losses, Stewart seemed convinced he could win at VMI and often said of his program, ``If we don't get this thing turned around, they won't have to fire me. I'm gone.''
Stewart has left VMI sooner than most people ever imagined he would.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: TYLER CATHER. VMI football coach Bill Stewart, whoby CNBresigned Thursday ``for personal reasons,'' was praised for making
inroads with alumni and high school football coaches in the state of
Virginia. Graphic: Chart by staff: Bill Stewart;s record at VMI. KEYWORDS: MGR