The late 1960s were volatile, with Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement gaining full steam. In the spring of 1969, Nagel dismissed Greg Allison and Charles Bolden, both black football players, from the team for "personal problems." He did not, however, rule out reinstating them in the fall. Although Nagel never specified what the personal problems were, it was widely rumored that Allison was having grade problems and that Bolden had had a brush with the law. Six weeks later, Bolden pleaded guilty to a bad check charge and was ordered to make restitution on a number of bad checks.