One year after leading the Clark Atlanta football team to the SIAC championship game, Teddy Keaton was out as head coach without much explanation.
Keaton gave his side of the story on the most recent edition of The Water Boyz Show, a podcast dedicated to Atlanta sports.
When one host asked if any behind-the-scenes matters led to his dismissal, Keaton said, “I’m very direct and to the point. It is what it is, this is what it’s going to take if you want to get there.”
Keaton was replaced by veteran coach Terry Sims after a 10-10-1 record in two seasons, including a memorable 2024 campaign where the Panthers went 7-2-1 before falling to Miles in the SIAC title game.
“Sometimes you look at a team with a lot of talent and wonder why they can’t win? Sometimes, there’s an organizational problem,” he continued, citing Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells having control over personnel organizations. “They say they want complete control, meaning ‘I don’t want to be just the coach, I’ve got to be the GM too.’ Those types of things matter because you don’t have complete control over what you’re doing, but you’re tied to the results.”
Keaton was fired on wedding anniversary
Keaton said he still has no idea why he was fired and took issue with how CAU broke the news to him.
“I’m visible. I’m all on social media, I have my own podcast, I do a lot of things. If I did something wrong, somebody would’ve come out and said something about it,” he said. “I got the call on my anniversary. Me and my wife are getting ready to go out and they didn’t even do it face-to-face; they did it over a Zoom.”
Keaton went on to say he has no problem with the university after his departure.
“There’s some great people at Clark; great fans, great alumni, great people,” he said. “I think they’re still shocked that I’m not there. But at the end of the day, people in higher power make their decisions and we have to move on.”
