SWAC coaches passed over by I-A schools

JSU head football coach Rick Comegy

Coaches at HBCUs have trouble attracting attention to their skills

In the hunt for qualified black coaches at the NCAA Division I-A level, a seemingly logical place to begin looking would be the Southwestern Athletic Conference, a Division I-AA league that is home to 10 historically black universities. But Floyd Keith, the president of the Black Coaches and Administrators, said that hasn't been the case.

"I don't think the guys in the SWAC or any other historically black conferences get a fair look," Keith said. "A lot of it is a lack of awareness. People who hire simply aren't paying attention to HBCUs. They battle that stigma that there's not good coaching at those schools."

Jackson State coach Rick Comegy needed just two years to turn the Tigers around from a doormat to champions. He was also a big winner for years at Tuskegee before coming to Jackson, but the 54-year-old has gone largely ignored by Division I-A schools.

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Very timely and partially true article. The issue here is how you measure success in the eyes of mainstream America. Until the SWAC participates in the NCAA FCS playoffs, beating up on other SWAC teams will never be a total gauge for measuring coaching success.

Last season, James Green, former head basketball coach at Mississippi Valley State University left the Delta Devils to become the head coach at Jacksonville State University Gamecocks of the Ohio Valley Conference. This move was made after a sub-par overall season record of 17-16, but MVSU won the SWAC tournament and got stomped by UCLA 70-29 at the big dance. Green's potential for success at Jacksonville State is equal to what he had at Division I Mississippi Valley State.

Can Green and Comegy coach? Obviously they can--but why do we need PWCU administrators to validate this fact by hiring away our best and brightest from HBCU institutions. The solution here is developing a realistic 10-15 year plan to migrate the strongest SWAC and MEAC schools to the NCAA Division I Football level.

From my view point, the SWAC and MEAC institutions are nearly equal to lower mid-majors and others like the MAC in football. With strong planning and fundraising, there are no reasons that the SWAC cannot be a 1-A or Football Bowl Championship Conference. Eddie Robinson never made excuses about the lack of--so why should SWAC coaches today, complain. The glass is not half empty--it's half full and opportunity is there for the taking with our OWN programs.

I would like to see our coaches focus on building butt kicking programs at HBCUs that win consistently in the NCAA playoffs and that can win a national championship like University of Maryland - Eastern Shore did this past season in bowling. No one gave the Hawks a chance, but an unknown black female coach, Sharon Brummell, believed that it could be done and built the top competitive bowling program in the MEAC and NCAA Division I, in spite of "lack of." No one now questions the capability of MEAC Bowling programs and the only validation needed is the 2008 National Championship trophy held by UMES.

I see the greater opportunity for black coaches advancement at HBCUs, not at directional state PWCUs with no winning history or traditions. If you open your eyes, you will see a migration of some black assistant coaches leaving the Division I ranks of PWCU to take top positions at HBCUs to gain head coaching career experience. The doors are not completely open at the NCAA Division I level for black coaches.

This is a good thing for us as some of our potentially future best coaches are now at: Alcorn State--Earnest Jones, head football coach, Larry Smith, men basketball and Tonya Edwards, head women basketball coach; Mississippi Valley State, Sean Woods, head men basketball coach; Rod Broadway, head football coach, Donnita Drain, women basketball coach and Rick Duckett, men basketball coach, Grambling State University; Henry Frazier III, head football coach and Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, head women basketball coach, Prairie View A&M University; and Monte Coleman, head football coach, University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, just to name a few of the new rising stars of SWAC major sports teams.

However, the road is a two-way street with an HBCU like Savannah State University hiring a somewhat poorly-qualified head football coach in Robert "Robby" Wells, who happened to be white. The question run both ways--Are HBCUs prepared to lose critical sports leadership positions in the SWAC, MEAC and HBCU Independents, to perceived lesser qualified candidates of the white race?

Perception appears to be the greatest obstacle facing the SWAC and HBCU sports, not the talent level of our coaches seeking Division I positions at PWCU. I think Floyd Keith misses the point-- I-A are not seeking black coaching talent no more that HBCUs are seeking white coaching talent.

I just wonder if Mississippi Valley State University would have hired Coach James Green, coming from a Jacksonville State of the Ohio Valley Conference, with the same record and credentials he had at MVSU?

I am sure this article could have been written regarding any mid-major, 1-AA, Division II or Division III conference coaching plight in moving up to glorified 1-A programs. The SWAC and MEAC does not have exclusivity with this problem.

-beepbeep