This interview with Northwestern State University of Louisiana President Marcus Jones was conducted by Lia Portillo Cantarero, Editor-in-Chief of The Current Sauce, by phone on Nov. 1, 2023. (Answers have been edited for clarity)
Q: Tell me how the last weeks have been for you?
A: So, it’s been a long couple of weeks, just trying to sort through the decision to cancel the remaining four football games. Our constituents, both faculty, staff, students and alumni, understand that it was very difficult to reach that decision.
Q: Is there something specific that you’d like to tell students and the community right now about that decision?
A: It was certainly a very difficult decision for the university. It was a decision that was reached after consultation with some senior level student athletes, the athletic administration, the athletic director, and input from health care professionals on the mental health side. So, a series of people were consulted to determine what the best course of action was moving forward, and it was a decision that was not taken lightly. And it was a very, very difficult decision, because I think all of us going into it, especially on the administrative side, wanted to find a way to continue this season. But after weighing all the factors, we understood that it was not in the best interest of our student athletes and the university for us to continue.
Q: Could you tell me who were those mental health experts that you consulted?
A: We consulted with our counselors, we consulted with other institutions who have dealt with issues with death and trauma on their campus. We also consulted with a firm that deals with crisis management. We consulted with legal counsel on the matter. We consulted with our staff and the Southland Conference, which Northwestern is a part of. We looked at all the angles and the implications of the decision to cancel the remaining four games.
Q: But now a lot of football players are coming out saying that they want to continue to play. What is your reaction to a football player starting a petition?
A: I understand that we’re dealing with a group of players who are in a sport that is fiercely competitive. I understand players are feeling like they have been denied the opportunity to be competitive. But when you are in a position that I’m in or that NSU was in, and you have to look at the totality of circumstances and when you have a group of players who are dealing with the loss of a fellow player who was killed in a violent fashion, and you’re dealing with another teammate who has been arrested – that is traumatic in and of itself just knowing that one of your teammates has died. So, when you look at all of that, and then you look at taking these individuals and putting them out on a field and they may not be in the same mental space to focus 100 % and you’re putting them out on the field, and they must protect their fellow teammates. So, I had to put myself in the position of a parent and I thought about my nephew. Would I want to put my nephew in a position where he is having to rely on somebody who may not be in the mental space to concentrate to protect me? I wouldn’t want to do that. Yes, there were obviously students who felt like they wanted to play, but when you talk about the entire group, I’ll talk about what happened with the practice right before the decision was made. When you have the majority of the team not showing up for practice and having to play a couple of days later. If they’re not even mentally prepared to come and practice, how can we put them out on the field and let them play? It’s not safe for them. And it’s not safe for the people that they’re charged with protecting. I think it was the right decision.
Q: Some of the confusion that a lot of people are having when reading the stories and reading the statements that some football players have come out with is that the practice was optional. Do you think that’s the reason why they feel they were not consulted?
A: So, it was an optional practice. The players were told that it was optional that you didn’t have to come if you felt like mentally and emotionally you were not prepared. I think that’s the thing that’s being left out. If you have 40 or 50 players not show up because they’ve been told they don’t have to come if they’re having mental or emotional issues dealing with what’s going on. So, if you don’t even have enough players to go, really get out on the field and have a proper practice – and this is a couple of days before an actual game. How can a coach feel safe putting a group of players out on the field when 40 or 50 players didn’t show up for practice because they decided that they were going to take advantage of the option of not showing up because of mental or emotional issues that they were dealing with? And then you turn around a couple of days later and put the entire team out on the field and let them play? If they’re dealing with emotional issues, or they’re not mentally or emotionally prepared to play on a Wednesday, then would it be safe to put them out on the field Saturday against a team that hadn’t even been in practice? That’s where we would fail our students if we had done that.
Q: A lot of players are saying they were not consulted and that was only one day. So, is the petition going to help bring the season back?
A: I don’t know necessarily what the purpose of the petition is because … I still feel very, very uncertain about putting a group of players out on the field. Given everything that I know, and getting the reservations that the coaches have. And I think you have to put yourself in the position of these coaches who are in the best position to have their finger on the pulse of a team and a player. They’re the ones that spend the most time with these players. And if several of the coaches have reservations about putting their players out on the field – I understand that a student athlete may want to play but I think a coach is in the best position to be able to really ascertain whether or not that student or student athlete is ready to actually compete because they are the experts. And even if several of the coaches have reservations, then I have to defer to the expert and I think the coaches are in the best position to make the call as to whether or not he thinks he has a group of players that are prepared to play the game. Because at the end of the day, we are responsible for the health and well-being of those students. And if coaches are often expressing reservations about putting them out in the field. I respect their decision, even if a player feels like they may be ready. But we also consulted and took input from their very coaches.
Q: Okay, so just to sort of confirm even if they want to play now, there’s not a likelihood that the season will come back?
A: At this point I don’t see that the decision will be reversed.
Q: Do you have any regrets about the decision?
A: I’m not going to say that I regret the decision. I wish that we were not in this position to have to make the decision. That was not an easy decision to make. But I will go back to the fact that I think it was the right decision to make, given everything that I’m privy to. But I regret that we found ourselves in a position where we had to make that call but unfortunately, we had a team member, a player that died. And as a result of his death, it triggered some of the other stuff that we’re dealing with, and it was an unfortunate turn of events. But looking back, I certainly feel like this was the right decision to make and I wish it was a decision that we didn’t have to make at all because going into this certainly wanted our team to get out in the field and play. That’s something that I wanted. But after looking at all of the factors that were involved, I defer to the input that was provided to me by the coaching staff and the athletic director to reach the ultimate decision that it was in the best interest of our students for their health, safety and well-being to cancel the remaining four games.
Q: So, what does this mean for the future of NSU, of the team and of students, athletics? Everyone involved?
A: We are starting the process of looking for a new head coach. We have engaged a search firm to help with the process. We hope to have a new head coach fairly soon. And then once we can do the head coach on site, he or she will start the recruiting process and the normal process that we go through preparing for next season.
Q: So, what’s your message to the community? After everything we’ve talked about, especially to those who have been doubting the decision. But what is the message for those who are doubting these administrative decisions?
A: So, I truly understand that people are disappointed in the fact that we canceled the last four games. That decision is one that I know disappointed a lot of people and I know that there are students and alumni and faculty and staff that would have liked to have seen us continue throughout the season. But I still go back to the fact that the decision that was made was made with the interest of our student athletes and their health and safety in mind. And had we had any other options we would have taken it, but this was the best decision based on everything that I have been privy to over the past few weeks since Ronnie’s death.
Q: What is something you would say to the players who really feel they were not consulted and that are angry by this decision?
A: I understand their anger. I understand that the coaching staff and the athletic director did not call them all together and ask each one individually their individual opinions on the matter. I understand that. I guess that’s the only regret that I wish that they had been collectively brought together and talked to. Would that have changed the decision? No, I don’t think it would have changed the decision primarily because there are a lot of factors that people are not privy to, that I was privy to. There are factors that were brought to light by the coaching staff that made all of us conclude that this was in the best interest of keeping our students safe. And at the end of the day, that is my job to make sure that our student athletes, when they are out competing, are kept as safe as possible.
