LORMAN — Alcorn State Athletic Director Darren Hamilton confirmed Wednesday afternoon that the seven assistant football coaches fired less than two weeks ago have been reinstated.

Hamilton said he had been in contact with Alcorn President George Ross but had no further comment.

“I just know that they were reinstated so that Alcorn State will continue to recruit and retain and graduate students,” Hamilton said.

Head coach Ernest Jones, who said Hamilton did not notify him that his coaches’ contracts were not being renewed, would make no comment regarding their reinstatement.

Jones has hired two lawyers and has reportedly filed a lawsuit against Hamilton and Ross for breach of contract.

Ross has not returned phone calls made since Dec. 1.

Associate head coach and defensive coordinator Earnest Collins, one of the seven coaches notified the day after Thanksgiving that his contract would not be renewed, said Tuesday that he and the other assistants were called into a meeting with Ross on Monday.

There, Ross gave them letters notifying them of their reinstatement but no new contracts.

The assistant coaches were hand-picked by Jones in December, nearly four months before Hamilton was hired.

Offensive coordinator Dino Dawson said he has been confused by the whole situation and is just ready to get back to business as usual.

“I’m tired of it, to be truthful. It’s very stressful,” he said. “I’m a football coach. All I want to do is coach football and recruit. If they don’t like what I do on offense, they can come ask me to move on.”

Dawson said there were many different stories and rumors going around as to why the coaches were being let go, and he was never given a definitive answer from the university.

“Even standing in line today at lunch, I had one of the faculty (members) ask me what was going on,” Dawson said. “I said, ‘You probably know just as much as I do.’”

Linebackers coach Zach Shay did not want to comment, and running backs coach Terrance Robinson, secondary coach Jack Phillips, defensive line coach Keith Majors and conditioning coach Lorenzo Guess — who also received their letters of reinstatement — did not return calls Wednesday.

Dawson said now that he knows he will not be unemployed at the end of the month, he is happy he can pay his bills and support his family.

The coaches can also get back on the road and resume recruiting, something Collins said has been hard to do in the recent confusion.

The Braves were 2-10 this season, including a 26-21 loss to Jackson State in the Capital City Classic Nov. 22.

Dawson, who will be recruiting in northwest Mississippi, said some of the coaches have already started recruiting.

“We’re just waiting right now to get vans back to the campus so we can get back out there,” he said. “I’m definitely happy to be back. I want to help Alcorn become a winning program.”