Mickey Joseph denounced his own condonation of a violent brawl between Grambling State and Bethune-Cookman during their SWAC college football game on Saturday. He read a prepared statement that offered a completely opposite tone from his press conference over the weekend.
Multiple players on both teams were suspended by the conference not too long thereafter.
The aforementioned college football incident took place right after halftime. It was ugly.
Bethune-Cookman head coach Raymond Woodie denounced the brawl.
Woodie did not speak to the media after the Wildcats lost to the Tigers on Saturday. He chose to wait until Monday to make his first public statement about the melee that took place as players exited the tunnel at Eddie G. Memorial Stadium to begin the third quarter.
“We don’t tolerate that,” Woodie said. “Obviously, you had individuals trying to de-escalate things. The film doesn’t lie. At the end of the day, our guys know we don’t tolerate that here.”
The third-year head coach is only concerned with the behavior and/or comments of his players and coaches. He also appeared to frame Grambling as the instigator.
“I worry about what we’re doing,” Woodie said. “That’s why we watch the film. We had players who were doing the right thing — coming on and leaving the field like they should. That’s what I focus on.”
He also mentioned a very specific part of the altercation, when a player swung on one of his staffers.
Sooooo this is what started that whole fight smh https://t.co/k7F5Dz1S1j pic.twitter.com/XXl56A8TQU
— 🏁Mont🏁 (@Coach_Monte100) November 9, 2025
Raymond Woodie once again claimed that members of his program were trying to deescalate the situation. Their attempts were unsuccessful.
“One of our coaches got swung at,” he said. “I don’t know how you can prevent that part of it, but he was being professional—trying to make sure things stayed calm.”
His statement reiterated that discipline and accountability remain at the core of Bethune-Cookman’s program identity. That presented a stark contrast from his opponent.
Grambling State head coach Mickey Joseph changed his tune.
To be fair, Woodie had more than 24 hours to prepare what he was going to say. Mickey Joseph went straight off the cuff immediately after the game.
The former interim head coach at Nebraska, who was hired at Grambling in Dec. 2023, offered a very different perspective after the two sides threw haymakers after halftime.
He said the Tigers will not tolerate “disrespect” and called on Woodie to “be responsible.” The Wildcats apparently took too long getting out of the locker room, which led the Tigers to stand on business.
That was on Saturday.
Joseph completely backtracked on what he said initially while reading a prepared statement on Monday. It was as if he denounced his own postgame comments, which seemingly condoned his players’ involvement in the brawl.
Grambling head coach Mickey Joseph reads a prepared statement denouncing his own postgame comments that suggested he condoned his players involvement in Saturday’s on-field brawl with Bethune-Cookman. pic.twitter.com/Ci1cGnRQfY
— HBCU Sports (@HBCUSports) November 10, 2025
He also apologized for the incident. His postgame comments were made in the heat of the moment and his focus is now on accountability and representing the university properly.
“It was emotional,” Joseph continued. “But at the end of the day, we represent something much bigger. Grambling has always stood for discipline, respect, and pride. We’ll take our punishment, and we’ll learn from it.”
Grambling ultimately won the game against Bethune-Cookman but the fight was the biggest storyline.
The SWAC issued fines of $40,000 to the former and $25,000 to the latter. It also suspended 18 players from the Tigers and nine players from the Wildcats. Three players are suspended for two games.