Flythe ends time at Savannah State University

Dr. Claud Flythe ends 40 year career in higher education at Savannah State, Virginia State and Shaw Universities. Flythe is credited with SSU Tigers successful entry into the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Claud Flythe's three-year term as Savannah State University's Vice President for Administration - and his 40-year career in higher education - ended Wednesday. "Relaxation will be No. 1 on my agenda," said Flythe, who has residences in Savannah and Virginia but is moving to Charlotte, N.C. When SSU President Earl Yarbrough began his tenure July 1, 2007, hiring Flythe was first on his agenda. He created a position for Flythe to oversee SSU's athletic program, facilities operations and public safety.

Yarbrough, who worked with Flythe at Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va., convinced Flythe to come out of retirement. Athletically, Yarbrough charged Flythe with three primary tasks:

-- Get the athletic department fully certified by the NCAA.

-- Get the football team through its NCAA-imposed three-year probation.

-- Get the Tigers into a conference.

Flythe accomplished all three goals, crowned by SSU's admittance to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on March 10, 2010. "We," Flythe said, deflecting credit. "We did all three of those things."

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Savannah State Officials Respond to Ex-Coach's Lawsuit

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), Dr. Claud Flythe, VP for Administration at SSU is leaving the school at the end of the month. Flythe is named in the Well's lawsuit and chaired the search committee that selected Robert Wells as the Tigers football coach.

The January firing of Savannah State University head football coach Robert Wells was one of “the most poorly handled situations,” one school administrator said. “This should have been addressed in January,” when Wells was given a “resign-or-be-fired” ultimatum from university officials after they called his coaching ethics into question two years after he was hired. Wells last month sued the school and several administrators, including the interim athletic director and administration vice president Claud Flythe. Wells, the first white football coach in the school’s history, said he coached the team to the most victories it has had in years and that he was fired because his fiancée is black.

During his first year as coach, the team won five games -- equal to the total amount of victories during the five previous seasons. It was the school’s best season in 11 years, the lawsuit said. In Wells' second season, the Tigers were 2-8. In speaking with the AJC, Flythe called Wells a “pathological liar” and is adamant that race had nothing to do with his dismissal. “It’s ludicrous that someone would make those accusations,” a heated Flythe told the AJC. Wells was given a one-year contract extension in December 2009. The university confirmed other news reports that 13 of the players were ineligible to participate in spring practice and that 20 players had either quit or were dismissed from the team.

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