Michigan State football coach fired

EAST LANSING, Mich., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Michigan State football coach Bobby Williams was fired late Monday as the Spartans disappointing season bottomed out over the weekend, and an increasingly tumultuous period in MSU history finally came to a close.

Offensive coordinator Morris Watts will serve as interim coach until the end of the season, said Athletics Director Ron Mason.

"When I was named athletics director, I promised decisive leadership," Mason said at a news conference. "I assured the administration that I would make the decisions I thought were in the best interests of the athletics department and the entire university. I knew some of them would be difficult ones and didn't expect one this early."

According to a report Tuesday by the Detroit News, three words convinced Mason that a change was needed in football coaches: "I don't know."

That was Williams' reply to a question by a reporter after last Saturday's humiliating 49-3 loss to archrival Michigan as to whether or not he had lost control of the team.

Led by quarterback Jeff Smoker and receiver Charles Rodgers, the Spartans began the season with high hopes and were considered a dark horse candidate to play for the national title.

But, after back-to-back wins, the Spartans went into a free fall, losing six of their next seven games, including the Michigan debacle. The Spartans have lost four games in a row by an average of more than 28 points.

Rumors about Williams' likely dismissal have been running rampant almost from the start of the season.

On Sunday, the school announced Smoker has a substance abuse problem and dismissed arrested running back Dawan Moss from the team.

On Oct. 24, Williams suspended the 21-year-old Smoker for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Smoker, a junior, threw for 1,593 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions before his suspension.

Moss was dismissed by Williams after his arrest Saturday night on felony and misdemeanor charges.

According to Lansing Police Department Sgt. Dave Dahlke, Moss was charged with fleeing and eluding, a felony, operating a vehicle under the influence, and resisting arrest, a pair of misdemeanors. He was jailed, arraigned on the charges Sunday morning, and posted bond.

The alleged incident took place at the Lansing Center in downtown Lansing. Dahlke said Moss had contact with an officer while he was driving and that an officer was injured, although he declined to be more specific.

Moss, a senior, was MSU's leading rusher with 592 yards and four touchdowns on 125 carries.

"It became clear to me that the direction of the football program required this decision," Mason said. "There was no one incident, event, episode or game that determined my conclusion. Therefore, I don't think it wise or helpful to publicly analyze any single event or incident. I made the decision today. There was no reason to prolong what I had determined was inevitable."

Williams, who became Michigan State's coach on Dec. 5, 1999, following 10 years as running backs coach, was 16-17 after taking over for current LSU Coach Nick Saban.

Since the start of the 2000 campaign, the Spartans have led the Big Ten with 15 conference losses. Williams, one of only four black football coaches in Division I-A, was just 1-9 on the road in Big Ten play.

Mason said Watts has no intentions of remaining coach past this season.

One person who was angered by Williams' firing played the race card.

"Since I have been an adult, MSU has had a reputation for fairness to minorities," Joel Ferguson, the only black member of the MSU Board of Trustees, said Monday in a written statement. "What is now incredibly disappointing to me is that MSU, under the cover of night, has decided to ignore the facts, ignore the precedent, and damage its reputation of fairness and commitment to diversity."

The two men before Williams, George Perles and Saban, each made it through four years, most of which were controversial for both and rather contentious. Perles currently is out of college coaching.