Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Brian Jenkins Named Head Football Coach at Alabama State -- Watch Press Conference Live At 3 P.M.

COACH BRIAN JENKINS
MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Alabama State University has named Brian Jenkins head football coach, Interim Athletic Director Melvin Hines announced Tuesday.

Jenkins will be introduced Wednesday at a 3 p.m. press conference in the Club Lounge at the New ASU Stadium. The press conference will be video streamed live - Click HERE to watch.

In five seasons as head coach at Bethune-Cookman (2010-14), Jenkins' Wildcats won more than 76 percent of their games (46-14), winning or tying for four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) titles, earning three FCS playoff berths and two HBCU national titles. B-CU won at least eight games each season, including a pair of 10-win seasons, and never finished below second place in the conference standings in posting a 34-6 record in MEAC contests, including a perfect 8-0 mark in 2012. The Wildcats also won 18 straight conference games between 2011-13, the second-longest streak in league history.

A three-time conference coach of the year, Jenkins' teams also defeated arch-rival Florida A&M four straight seasons (2011-14) for the first time in school history.

Jenkins' success was not limited to FCS opponents. In both 2013 and 2014, the Wildcats defeated FBS member Florida International University, with both triumphs coming on the road. Of Jenkins' 14 losses as a head coach, four are to BCS schools (Miami 2011, '12; eventual national champion Florida State 2013, eventual American Conference Champion Central Florida 2014), and three came in the FCS Playoffs.

One of the bright young coaches in college football, the 43-year old Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. native was an assistant coach for 16 years in collegiate and professional football before taking the head coaching reigns at B-CU. Jenkins began his career as wide receivers coach at Western Kentucky (1994), before coaching both receivers and running backs for five seasons at Eastern Illinois (1995-99). After a one-year stint as running backs coach at Bowling Green (2000), Jenkins coached one season as running backs / special teams coach for the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europe in 2001.

Jenkins also worked in the dual role of coaching running backs and special teams at Louisiana-Lafayette for seven seasons (2002-08), and had a one-year stint as receivers coach at Rutgers (2009) prior to being named head coach at Bethune-Cookman.

Jenkins played college football as both a wide receiver and running back at the University of Cincinnati. He was among the all-time leaders in kickoff return yards for a season (505) and ended his career as the Bearcats' career leader in kickoff returns (62) and kickoff return yards (1,506). He graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor's degree in social work and an Associate's degree in education.

COURTESY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

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