Okay, Carl... You Haven't Resigned, You're Fired...

Florida Atlantic withdrew Carl Pelini's resignation as football coach and has now fired him with cause saying he failed to report misconduct by members of his staff...

Assumedly this has to do with the former DC, Pete Rekstis, and his admission he used illegal drugs...

The letter doesn't mention any of Pelini's drug use...

Pelini resigned October 30. But Pelini denied the illegal drug use claim made by FAU AD Patrick Chun- even as another member of the FAU staff admitted seeing him use marijuana and cocaine.
((HT: FAUOwlTV))


The semantics of Pelini now having/needing to repay $500,000 are now moot... which means that lump sum is, probably, now his settlement.

FAU is 3-0 since Pelini was replaced by interim coach Brian Wright, and could become bowl-eligible with a win in the regular-season finale against FIU... which looks promising...

Tom Fornelli discusses the resignation/firing at the time it went down with Tim Brando...
((HT: CBS Sports Network))

Pelini Wants His Job Back, Says He Was Forced To Resign

((HT: ESPN/McMurphy))

Well, this just got weirder...

Current former FAU head coach Carl Pelini now wants his old job back and says that he was forced to resign by the university. He denies any of the drug use that was brought up by AD Patrick Chun in the dismissal press conference he gave last week.

Pelini says he now told Chun that he didn't use any drugs, and was more than willing to take a drug test...

Remember this...???
((HT: WPBF-TV))


Which led to analysis by Tom Fornelli and Tim Brando
((HT: CBS Sports Network))


Chun still stands by the evidence he has in house- including texts- and Pelini is now changing his story...

From McMurphy:

Chun also reiterated that Pelini "voluntarily resigned" and "refused to cooperate in the investigation." When asked about Pelini being reinstated as coach, Chun said "he resigned. I accepted his resignation."

Pelini also said his "forced resignation" occurred after Chun and a university police officer took Pelini's phone and denied his requests to contact legal counsel. Chun said he could not comment about that specific allegation.

Pelini also claimed he was not provided written notice and a 30-day investigation period, as required by his contract. Chun said there were certain matters he could not comment on because the issue was still being reviewed by FAU's human resources department.

The HQ's thought on this is simple: Pelini wants to get paid...

This has lawyer footprints all over it...

"You did not hit that car and cause the accident. It was stuff that was said in the heat of the moment at the scene..."

And this will go the way of a filing for some kind of wrongful termination- and a settlement will follow- unless, of course, FAU really wants to go to the mat on this one and prove a contractual point.

This is about to get a whole lot uglier before it gets settled...

Deadspin has a copy of the letter Pelini has filed with FAU:

Carl Pelini statement

So, It Wasn't Just Pot With Pelini...???

((HT: Sun Sentinel/Kurtenbach))

Dieter Kurtenbach has been on top of the Florida Atlantic saga involving former head coach Carl Pelini and former DC Pete Rekstis- and their admitted to drug use... and he wishes that he could say more in his printed word, but lawyers have themselvs caught up in it at present...

And if you read his Twitter feed, you can see it...

But it appears that the drug use may have gone past just marijuana- the Sun Sentinel newspaper obtained two affidavits from DL coach Matt Edwards and a woman named Allison Stewart. They admitted Pelini use drugs- and Edwards also admitted that he witnessed Pelini and Rekstis using cocaine. Stewart has a text message, apparently, where Pelini admitted drug use.

AD Pat Chun said at his press conference where it was announced that Pelini and Rekstis resigned that Pelini admitted past drug use to him before his dismissal...

Here's some of the press conference...
((HT: FAUOwlTV))


And here's local news coverage...
((HT: WPBF-TV))

Developing: Carl Pelini Resigns at Florida Atlantic--UPDATE

((ht: thebiglead.com))

Okay, the question to the non-hardcore sports fan is "Who is Carl Pelini?" and why would anyone care that he resigned from Florida Atlantic University...?

Here's your answer. Pelini, coach of the 2-6 Owls along with his Defensive Coordinator Pete Rekstis were forced to step down because, according to ESPN.com reporter Brett McMurphy, the two attended a social event where pot was used and agreed to resign.

Source told @ESPN Carl Pelini & DC Pete Rekstis resign at FAU. They attended recent social event where pot was used & agreed to resign
— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) October 30, 2013

The school is in the process of holding a press conference as we write this to make the announcement. We will update this as the day progresses

--Update: The school officially has announced the resignations stating that offensive coordinator Brian Wright will finish the season as the coach.

--Update: Per: Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel reporter Dieter Kurtenbach, Pelini released a statement saying "I apologize for exercising poor judgement".

--Update (4:20pm) Per Kurtenbach:

Pelini and Rekstis were taken away from the FAU football offices by police. No arrests were made.
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) October 30, 2013

Also---Both men (Pelini and Rekstis) appear to have admitted to their boss, FAU AD Pat Chun, they participated in "Illegal Drug Use".

Oh boy, this is getting worse by the Tweet....



Here's coverage from our friends at WSVN-TV
WSVN-TV - 7NEWS Miam Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Deco

And here's AD Pat Chun from the afternoon presser...
((HT: NBCMiami))