HUNTSVILLE, AL - Alabama A&M's football program was at a crossroads nine years ago. The athletics director at the time, the late Jim Martin, convinced that A&M had outgrown NCAA Division II and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, led the Bulldogs to NCAA Division I-AA in football and Division I-A in all other sports and into the Southwestern Athletic Conference.He hired Ron Cooper, a local product who virtually grew up on campus, played at Jacksonville State and later coached at Notre Dame and Louisville, to put A&M's football program on the map. Cooper did a good job, but could have done better had it not been for all of his off-the-field projects. When he left after going 22-23 from 1998-2001 and leading A&M to a berth in the 2000 SWAC championship game, Martin needed someone that could improve what Cooper had built.
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