Grambling, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Grambling State relieved George Ragsdale as interim football coach and named defensive coordinator Dennis "Dirt" Winston to the same position on Thursday.
The announcement by the Southwestern Athletic Conference university came on the second straight day that football players did not practice as they continued to voice frustration over the direction of their winless season.
Ragsdale was reassigned within the athletics department.
The Shreveport Times reported Tigers players walked out of a meeting with school administration following Tuesday's practice, then staged a first day of boycotting practice on Wednesday. A source told the newspaper that players had sought to discuss former head coach Doug Williams' firing in mid-September and the way they have been treated by administration, including being made to travel what they feel are excessive distances by bus to certain road games.
The Tigers have an 0-7 record, the first two losses under Williams and the last five under Ragsdale. The team, which finished 1-10 last year after winning the SWAC championship under Williams in 2011, has lost 13 straight conference games.
Winston served two stints as a Grambling assistant coach under the legendary Eddie Robinson during the 1990s.
Grambling is scheduled to play at Jackson State in a SWAC game on Saturday.
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