Daytona Beach, FL – Bethune-Cookman University issued a statement regarding its internal investigation into the football program on Monday evening.

Although not specifically stated in the release, the internal investigation is thought to center on alleged misconduct by former head football coach Brian Jenkins.  The Montgomery Advertiser reported several former players including linebacker Rahdeese Alcutt, tight-end Justin Henderson, and offensive lineman Blake Pritchard alleged Jenkins violated NCAA rules by providing improper benefits to players, failing to make proper housing arrangements, and violating weekly practice time limits.

According to the Official Statement, BCU athletic department officials state they became aware of allegations of possible rules violations during the 2014 fall semester and immediately notified the NCAA and MEAC upon receipt of this information.  Bryan Harvey, BCU’s Assistant Director of Athletics, also stated the school has launched an internal investigation; however, the school was not currently being investigated by the NCAA.

Jenkins is now the head coach at Alabama State.  He enjoyed a highly successful run at BCU in which he won or shared four MEAC titles and earned three FCS playoff berths in five seasons at the Daytona Beach university.

See BCU’s official statement below.

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Bethune-Cookman Issues Statement on Internal Investigation into Football Program

 

“During the fall semester of 2014, Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) received information about allegations of possible violations of NCAA rules regarding our football program. We immediately notified the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) of this matter.

“B-CU has also launched an internal investigation which is ongoing in an effort to ensure and maintain compliance.

“The University will have no further comment until the investigation has been completed.”

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Brian Jenkins has a new job, but he will likely have to answer questions about possible rules violations at his old one.

Former players at Jenkins previous coaching job, Bethune-Cookman, have accused him of everything from leaving them homeless and toying with their scholarships to threatening them with steak knives, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. The Advertiser reports that Jenkins was being investigated at BCU prior to accepting the Alabama State job in December.

According to the report, former players have accused Jenkins of:

BCU began an investigation on Jenkins after he reportedly threatened two players, linebacker Rahdeese Alcutt and defensive end Brandin Hudson- with a steak knife.

According to a letter Alcutt provided at the request of Bethune-Cookman officials as part of the investigation, a teammate accidentally spilled a drink and Alcutt began laughing. Because Jenkins doesn’t allow talking at the pre-game meals, the commotion irked the head coach, Alcutt said.

“At this time, Brian Jenkins walked over to me and picked up a knife and pointed it at me and (Hudson) saying, ‘Do I have to cut your (expletive) throats to get you to be quiet?” Alcutt wrote in the letter. Jenkins then stared at the two players for several seconds, he said.

Ex-players have also accused Jenkins of forcing them practice more than the 20 hour per week maximum set out by the NCAA.

Former tight end Justin Henderson said that despite being on scholarship and getting Pell Grant money, he wound up with no place to live after transferring from Memphis to BCU. When he decided to transfer, Jenkins never signed his release form. He ended up coming back to BCU after he was told he couldn’t apply as an early applicant for the NFL Draft, but had to do so without a scholarship. That meant he had to go back to sleeping in his own truck, despite starting for Jenkins.

“Of course the coaches knew this,” Henderson said. “They could see my truck in the parking lot with everything I owned in it. They called it ‘living off the land.’ When you didn’t have a place to live, you were ‘living off the land out there,’ they said.”

Jenkins has not responded to the Advertiser’s attempts to reach him. Jenkins went 46-13 in his five seasons at BCU.