MEAC turning to coaches with experience at I-A, NFL levels

By KRISTIAN POPE, The News Journal

Recent hiring trends add to depth, variety of conference's staffs

DOVER -- Joe Taylor flipped through a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference football guide, and with each page his eyes grew more weary.

"We have coaches from the SEC and Big Ten," said Taylor, football coach at Hampton University, as he recently discussed his league counterparts. "We've grown tremendously. You really have to be ready to play nowadays."

Now, Taylor is the ultimate homer for the MEAC. But his point was not exaggerated. The MEAC, long a conference known for hiring coaches with prior league experience, has been busy the past five years catching up to the rest of college football.

And, in turn, coaches from nonhistorically black colleges have eyed the MEAC as a legitimate conference in which to build a program.

Five of the past six head coaches hired in the MEAC gained a major part of their experience in the NFL or NCAA Division I-A ranks. The two most recent -- Howard's Carey Bailey and North Carolina A&T's Lee Fobbs -- have resumes nearly devoid of HBCU or Division I-AA experience.

"In the very short period that I've been here, the level of teaching has improved," DSU coach Al Lavan said. "Teams are much better prepared than when I first got here."

Lavan spent more than 30 years in the NFL and Division I-A. His experience outside the MEAC was pinpointed by the school's search committee as a reason for hiring Lavan.

Photo: Coach Al Lavan, DSU

The head coach of Lavan's next opponent has a similar background. Florida A&M coach Rubin Carter, now in his third season, played 12 years with the NFL's Denver Broncos (1975-1986) and appeared in two Super Bowls (1978, 1987). He arrived in 2004 from Temple University, where he was the defensive line coach after working as an assistant with the NFL's Jets, Broncos and Redskins.

Carter took the job, once considered the plum of MEAC coaching assignments, despite the loss of 14 scholarships following an NCAA investigation in 2005 into the program under former coach Billy Joe.

DSU (1-0) heads to Tallahassee, Fla., for its MEAC opener against FAMU (0-1) on Saturday. Kickoff at Bragg Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m.

"It's been tough; we were in a transitional period prior to my arrival," Carter said. "You deal with the loss of scholarships but you still have to find a way to win."

The recent coaching trend began in 2002 at South Carolina State. Buddy Pough spent three seasons coaching running backs for Lou Holtz at the University of South Carolina. He took over in 2002 for longtime coach Willie Jeffries. In five seasons, Pough has gone 29-10 in the MEAC.

The league's most recent hires extended the trend. Fobbs at A&T spent eight seasons at I-A schools, most recently at Texas A&M, before being hired by A&T in 2006.

And last winter, former Minnesota defensive assistant Bailey was hired by Howard University. Before that, Bailey was at Oklahoma State.

Bailey said his experience has put added pressure to win on the program. That's why he also hired assistants with working knowledge of the MEAC, including former DSU defensive coordinator Andre Creamer.

"I've followed the league and compare it to the Pac-10 in that you don't know who you're playing week to week," Bailey said. "You always want to put more pressure on yourself; that's how you get a successful program."

Lavan said he believes the newcomers are helping change the conference's reputation.

"It's the variety of experience that's important," Lavan said. "We all bring something different. It's a shared experience."