NSU’s Scott steps down for new job opportunity
He’s expected to become assistant coach at East Carolina, according to Yahoo!
NORFOLK — Norfolk State football coach Latrell Scott resigned Wednesday after five seasons with the Spartans “to accept another career opportunity,” the school announced in a release.
Athletic director Melody Webb said assistant head coach William “B.T.” Sherman will serve as interim head coach while the school immediately begins a search for Scott’s replacement.
Scott went 21-35 in five seasons. “This was a very hard decision. Brandi, Chase and I love the NSU campus community, our staff and players,” Scott said in a release. “It was truly a family decision that we feel is best for us right now. We will miss this program we’ve become so ingrained in and want nothing but the best for the Spartans moving forward.”
The release did not specify what position Scott had accepted, but Yahoo! Sports, citing sources, tweeted that Scott is expected to become an assistant coach at East Carolina.
Scott, a Richmond native and Hampton University graduate, was named Norfolk State head coach in December 2014, agreeing to a fouryear deal that paid him $180,000 per year. He signed a two-year contract extension after the 2019 season to keep him at NSU through Jan. 2, 2022.
He arrived after stints as a head coach at Richmond and assistant positions at James Madison, Virginia, Tennessee, VMI and Western Carolina.
Scott’s best season with the Spartans came in 2019, when NSU won three of its final four games to finish 5-7 — the program’s best mark since 2011. A school-record 13 Spartans were named to the All-MEAC football teams that year and NSU scored a school Division I-record 28.9 points per game.
NSU had hoped to build on that 2019 success — spurred by a juniorladen lineup — in 2020. But the fall season was canceled because of the pandemic, and Norfolk State opted out of its scheduled four-game spring season.
Scott said the combination of limited COVID-19 cases and the lack of preparation time forced him to make the decision to opt out of the spring season.
Norfolk State’s offense had steadily improved under Scott, a former tight end who maintained play-calling duties. He also built a program that leaned on local players from Hampton Roads and the state.