By Mike Marzelli/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFFArkansas-Pine Bluff head coach Mo Forte will be returning to the sidelines when the Golden Lions open the 2007 at Mississippi Valley State on Sept. 1.
Forte, who coached the final nine games of the 2006 season from the coaches’ box after experiencing chest pains in late September, says he feels “100 percent back to normal” and that he is looking forward to getting back on the field.
“When you’re up in the box things are really detached and that’s not how I like to be involved,” he said. “My health has been fine and I feel fine. I’d like to still lose some weight and if anyone can find me a diet where I don’t starve that’d be great but really I’m fine to be right back where I was on the sidelines."
Change of schedule
UAPB’s week two game at Alcorn State has been moved to Thursday Sept. 6 at 6:30 p.m. to accommodate ESPNU television. The game had originally been scheduled for Sept. 8 in Lorman, Mississippi.
The move now gives the Lions two Thursday night games, with the other being an Oct. 18 Southwestern Athletic Conference championship rematch at Alabama A&M, and while both games will be broadcast on national television, Forte isn’t particularly happy about having a pair of short practice weeks.
“The exposure is great but really I don’t like [the two Thursday games] at all,” Forte said. “Any time you have two mid-week games in one season it creates a tough situation, especially when they’re both on the road, because it really gives you just two days to prepare for games that are league games when you consider that we’ll be traveling on each Wednesday.
”The Golden Lions Sept. 1 season opener in Itta Bena, Mississippi will also be on television and the possibility exists for additional UAPB games to be added to the SWAC television schedule. UAPB opens with three consecutive SWAC games, with the third being the home opener against Alabama State, before non-conference road games at Southern Illinois and Division I New Mexico State.
Following a bye on Oct. 6 the Lions will play Grambling State in Little Rock followed by road games at Alabama A&M and Jackson State and home dates with Prairie View A&M and Southern. The final game of the season will be Nov. 17 at Texas Southern.
“This is, by far, the toughest schedule we’ve had since I’ve been here and I can’t imagine UAPB has ever had a tougher schedule,” Forte said.
“Somebody has to play it though, so we’ll play it.”
First Contact
Forte and the UAPB coaching staff will put the Lions through their first workout in full pads this afternoon beginning at 3 p.m. followed by the first double session of camp on Saturday, which will also feature the first full-squad preseason scrimmage.
UAPB is allowed three two-a-day practice sessions per week but cannot schedule them on consecutive days, so the Lions will practice once on Monday and Wednesday of next week and twice on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
“These guys really worked hard in the non-contact portion of camp so we’re anxious to see how they react to contact,” Forte said. “This is when we start to separate the men from the boys because when you put the pads on you see the guys who want to hit and enjoy contact and the ones who shy away from it and that makes the difference between guys we can use and ones we can’t.”
Back in the fold
New special teams and tight ends coach Otis Flowers says he’s excited to be back for a second tour of duty at UAPB and under Forte. Flowers served as the Lions’ defensive backs coach during Forte’s first season in Pine Bluff in 2004 and returned this summer to replace Phil Cole, who left the staff to return to his native New York.
Flowers is a graduate of the University of Buffalo who has spent 12 years as a special teams coordinator and 19 years as a defensive backs coach at multiple levels of college football, including stops at Canisius, Buffalo State, Urbana and his alma mater.
“I’m really enthusiastic about being back and taking on another challenge and I’m happy to work with coach Forte again,” Flowers said. “Things are familiar from when I was here before but there are totally different kids and some new coaches and I’m just looking forward to fitting in and working hard.”
Flowers has spent extensive time in the first week of camp working with what is a fledgling punt team and a new group of kick returners and has gotten positive reviews from Forte.“He’s a good coach with a lot of experience and a guy I trust,” Forte said. “He’s going to do just fine.”
Captains
Forte plans to elect game captains for each contest this season rather than choosing them for the season. UAPB chose game captains last year as well.
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