Reports: Grambling Football Team Boycotting Saturday Game

((ht: shreveporttimes.com))

It appears the mutiny/boycott by players on the Grambling University Football team isn't over.

Multiple reports say the team has made a decision NOT to travel to their game on Saturday at Jackson State. A 3:30 p.m central time deadline on the team departing Shreveport, Louisiana to travel to Jackson has come and gone and the team is nowhere to be found.

The Shreveport Times reports the buses that were to be used to transport the team to Jackson, Mississippi are sitting empty, in a parking lot at the school, with the school's band standing in wait and practicing while waiting to see if the team arrives.

However, reports from Jackson says Jackson State has not been told the game has been cancelled. The game, which is Jackson State's homecoming, would be a forfeit if Grambling doesn't show and would cost the Tigers a significant amount of money.

More from the Shreveport Times RIGHT HERE

The Jackson Clarion-Ledger chimes in RIGHT HERE

Monroe Times (LA) reporter Sean Isabella took this photo of the bizarre scene:

Five-minute warning. Still no signs of players. Busses are incredibly lonely. pic.twitter.com/52NYCjSDlQ
— Sean Isabella (@ST_IsabellaTNS) October 18, 2013

We won't go too deep on the back story to all of this. The school on Thursday reassigned interim head coach George Ragsdale and promoted Dennis Winston to be the school's 3rd head coach this season.

The players, they still seem to be simmering over accusations the school's administration has withheld meals on road trips, long bus rides and poor conditions in the school's facilities. The protests began in earnest on Tuesday after a players was kicked out of a weight training session after voicing his opinion on how things were going this season.

Here's the reports from Shreveport...
((HT: KSLA-TV))
KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather

Jackson State is looking to have the game called a conference win instead of a "no contest..."

PM Grambling UPDATE: No Players, Another New Head Coach

((HT: KSLA-TV))

The flame out of the once-proud Grambling football program is reaching "profound dumpster fire" stage...

Day two of the football players inactivity has reportedly led to the dismissal of interim head coach George Ragsdale and the appointing of new interim head coach Dennis Winston.

The Tigers have traded their OC for their DC. Ragsdale will be reassigned within the athletic department...

Ragsdale was, apparently, on his cell phone calling players this afternoon wondering aloud if they were going to attend practice. The answer was an easy "no" for the squad after meetings this week didn't go well with the administration of the university.

Here's the latest this afternoon...
KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather

Sean Isabella of the Monroe (LA) News-Star newspaper caught up with Ragsdale who left campus ten minutes before practice was supposed to begin this afternoon:

"...safety Naquan Smith gave a surprising admission Thursday during a public demonstration by the students.

“As a team, we feel like we wanted (Ragsdale) to actually step down,” Smith said. “(The team) is behind us because they know what we’ve been going through. They know the struggle. We said we’re behind each other 100 percent.”

Ragsdale took the high road and said he still had faith in his team despite the turmoil.

“If that’s what they felt, they wanted me gone,” Ragsdale said. “I loved them whether they wanted me gone or not. Maybe they didn’t like my coaching methods.”

Thursday afternoon campus police had placed barricades up blocking the roads to practice facility before the scheduled 5PM practice. News media were told that they were to leave campus and any players were off limits for interviews...

Grambling is scheduled to play Jackson State this week, and the HQ would love to know what this game is going to look like...

Has Grambling Hit Rock Bottom...??? No--UPDATED

((HT: KTBS-TV Shreveport))

The once proud organization is 0-7 this year and haven't won a game since the 2011 SWAC title game...

They lost 48-0 to Alcorn last week and, now, according to the Shreveport Times, players have walked out of an administrative meeting on Tuesday and skipping a team practice this afternoon.

Here's FOSG Paul Crane...
KTBS.com - Shreveport, LA News, Weather and Sports

From the Matt Vines article:

The source said the teams’ frustrations have been boiling over a period time. Those frustrations include what’s considered as general disrespect from administration, not receiving all meals on road trips, taking a bus to distant locations like Kansas City and Indianapolis and the poor state of facilities like the weight room.

Players attended morning weight training until the session abruptly ended after one player was kicked out after voicing his opinion in Tuesday’s meeting. All players left the weight training session.

Vines' source called the walk-out a mutiny...

Updated Thursday afternoon: The Shreveport Times reports interim coach George Ragsdale has been let go and Defensive coordinator Dennis Winston would finish out the season as coach. For now. Also, the team did not practice on Thursday, but intends to play Saturday's game vs. Jackson State.