Ex-coach will plead guilty in Alabama recruiting scandal

|By WOODY BAIRD|
|Associated Press Writer|
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A former high school football coach at the center of a recruiting scandal at the University of Alabama will plead guilty to a federal criminal charge next month, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Lynn Lang, former coach at Trezevant High in Memphis, is charged with soliciting and accepting payoffs to steer Albert Means, his top player, to Alabama in 2000.
A federal grand jury indicted Lang last year on conspiracy, extortion and bribery charges.
Milton Kirk, Lang’s assistant coach, has accused his former boss of seeking $200,000 to influence Means’ choice of a college.
Court records say Lang made cash deposits of $50,000 around the time of the alleged payoffs.
Authorities say Means knew nothing about any brokering of his football talents.
Lang has pleaded innocent and repeatedly denied the allegations against him. A change of plea hearing is scheduled for him in U.S. District Court on Nov. 7.
Pat Brown, an assistant federal defender, said Lang will enter a guilty plea at that hearing. Lang’s trial was set to begin Nov. 18.
Brown declined to say what offense Lang will admit committing, or if he has worked out a sentencing agreement with prosecutors. Brown said he has advised Lang, who now lives in Detroit, not to talk about the plea.
Fred Godwin, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting Lang, declined comment.
Means, a heavily recruited defensive lineman, played only one season at Alabama before transferring to the University of Memphis.
Lang’s indictment also accuses him of seeking payoffs from the universities of Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida State, Michigan State and Memphis.
Means played for Memphis last year, but is academically ineligible for the current season.
Kirk contends Lang received payoffs from Alabama booster Logan Young of Memphis. Young has denied the allegation. Alabama has disassociated itself from Young for five years.
The grand jury that indicted Lang also charged Kirk, who has pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy and is awaiting sentencing.
At a hearing for a guilty plea, prosecutors outline their case and the defendant must say if they are accurate.
Young said he was not concerned about what Kirk might admit to at his hearing.
‘‘I’m really not. My lawyers haven’t called me about it,’’ Young said.
The NCAA has accused Young of making at least three $10,000 payments to Lang before Means signed with Alabama.
In February, the NCAA placed Alabama on probation for five years, reduced scholarships by 21 over three years and banned the Crimson Tide from postseason football competition for two years.
Those punishments were for recruiting violations, some of which involved Means.
Lang moved to South Delta High in Rolling Fork, Miss., after the scandal broke. He was fired as South Delta’s football coach after his indictment.

 

hope he does time

 

How is the Bear gonna do that? Through a Psychic?