Boynton Beach taps Crudup for coach vacancy

Boynton Beach has acted quickly to replace former football coach Errick Lowe.

The school on Thursday promoted defensive coordinator Derrick Crudup Sr. to take over the embattled program. Crudup joined Boynton Beach’s coaching staff in February after spending two seasons with American Heritage-Delray.

“I’m so honored and blessed to become the head coach at Boynton,” Crudup said. “I always felt like Boynton is a diamond in the rough. It’s a Glades Central East in my opinion.”

A 1983 Boca Raton High graduate, Crudup starred at the University of Oklahoma as a safety, helping the Sooners win the national championship in 1985. He spent two seasons in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders, playing in 20 games.

Crudup has served as an assistant coach at Deerfield Beach, Boca Raton, Spanish River and Pompano Beach. Crudup also spent seven years as a high school assistant in Georgia. He was inducted into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

The hire comes two days after Lowe’s resignation. Lowe, who spent two seasons as the Tigers’ coach, stepped down in the wake of allegations made against him by a former assistant.

Korey Banks, Boynton’s defensive coordinator last season, made wide-ranging accusations against Lowe and the Tigers football program in February, following his ouster after only a few weeks on the job as coach at Santaluces. Among the claims, contained in documents provided by Banks, was that Lowe and his staff illegally recruited “more than a dozen players.”

Accusations from both sides flew shortly after Banks was hired at Santaluces on Dec. 13. Ten days later, Boynton Beach filed a complaint to the Florida High School Athletic Association, claiming Banks tried to lure players to Santaluces while still an assistant at Boynton.

Banks denied the claims, but was let go by Santaluces on Jan. 13 after the school received FHSAA notice of the allegations.

Crudup says the team is moving on.

“It’s a new day at Boynton Beach,” he said Thursday.