Former St. Augustine's head football coach Howard Feggins files lawsuit over firing: 'Unlawful'

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A former Saint Augustine's head football coach is suing the university.

The Raleigh-based HBCU fired Howard Feggins in October after it was discovered that he played two ineligible players.

Among the allegations in his lawsuit, Feggins said he was silenced when bringing up concerns about how the program was run. He also says he was fired unlawfully.

St. Saint Augustine's said they have no comment on the lawsuit when responding to an ABC11 request.

Three days after St. Augustine's University announced his dismissal, Howard Feggins held a press conference addressing the reasons behind the firing. Citing a letter sent to him by the university, Feggins said his dismissal was due to the presence of two ineligible players, a claim he pushed back on.

"It was a lapse on my part when we played Virginia Union, Kam Page, a student-athlete wore the jersey of a player who was no longer on the team and participated. He played three snaps on kickoff return," said Feggins, who acknowledged he was aware that Page was not eligible. The second player is Nyron Campbell-Adams, who according to Feggins, the school claimed played in five games.

"For this type of violation, it's very rare you would find someone let go, terminated immediately," Feggins told ABC11 at the October news conference.

The school's former president Christine Johnson McPhail was fired in early December. She has since filed a lawsuit in which she accuses the university of wrongfully terminating her. She also accused the school of gender and race bias in her lawsuit.

McPhail was named the 13th president of Saint Augustine's following a search to replace her husband's tenure as president after he died because of a COVID-related illness in October 2020. The Board of Trustees named her as the school's president in February 2021.