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Showing posts with label NCAA FCS Division I Football. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NCAA FCS Division I Football. Show all posts
Tallahassee, FL -- Joe Taylor has received more than a few telephone calls in the past month. They come from throughout the Southeast and other parts of the country from players, parents and alumni who try to convince the Florida A&M football coach that they've got his next super athlete.
"It's been crazy in terms of the number of calls that we've received," Taylor said Thursday. "Then, you have alumni calling because they know somebody."
The current dead recruiting period hasn't stopped Taylor's phone from ringing, in part, because of the program's success last season when the Rattlers won a share of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title. Taylor estimated that he's fielded at least 10 calls per day for the past month.
"I told the coaches this morning that it's a good thing that people want to be a part of you," he said. "When you do great things, you're going to attract more people. Winning (a share of the MEAC) championship didn't hurt either so what that allows us to do is be more selective."
Videographer: jesudomine; Who will be the next great one from FAMU? Bullet Bob Hayes (#702) winning the 100m final in a time of 10.0 seconds, equaling the world record. Taken from Kon Ichikawa's documentary Tokyo Olympiad (東京オリンピック Tōkyō Orinpikku) from 1965.
Orangeburg, SC -- There are at least two weeks remaining for the second annual "Lift-A-Bulldog" campaign to cover expenses for the football team to enroll in summer school and work out on campus.
Should head coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough reach his goal of $50,000 which would be matched by the athletics department to make it possible for the team to remain this summer in Orangeburg, the players will be working with a new strength and conditioning coach.
The T&D has confirmed that Torre Becton has left the program to accept a new job with the University of Washington. Becton will serve as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Huskies' football team.
"The University of Washington is in a major conference," Becton said in a telephone interview. "It's an up-and-coming program under head coach Steve Sarkisian and it was just an opportunity that was too much to turn down."
Morgantown, WV -- When West Virginia takes on Norfolk State on Sept. 10 in Milan Puskar Stadium, it will likely be the Mountaineers' least important game of the season. It could be Norfolk State's biggest game, though. The Spartans have one game against a higher-division foe, and that's West Virginia.
The Mountaineers won't start with a lower-division opponent for the first time since the 2007 season, when they faced Western Michigan (The Mountaineers haven't faced a team from an automatic qualifier conference since 2005, when they faced Syracuse).
The biggest question isn't whether WVU will overlook Norfolk State when the two teams get together. The question will be, however, if the Mountaineers do overlook the Spartans, will it matter?
Norfolk State went 6-5 last year ...
Videographer: nsuathletics; Big East 2010 Game: NSU at. Rutgers Highlights.
Howard University head football coach Gary Harrell has added the following coaches to his staff for the upcoming season:
Rayford Petty Defensive Coordinator
Ted White Offensive Coordinator/Quarterback Coach
Ron Bolton Defensive Back Coach
Bobby Jones Defensive Line Coach
Jonathan Brewer Wide Receivers Coach
Chennis Berry Offensive Line Coach
Theron Smith Running Backs
Mike Andrews Kicking Coach/Special Teams
Videographer: wcsaTV
Petty is no stranger to Howard. He served as head coach of the Bison from 2002-06. He also served as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator here. The highly respected Petty has also served as defensive coordinator at both Delaware State and Norfolk State.
Petty was the defensive coordinator for the Bison during both the 1993 and 1996 seasons when the team captured the Black National championship.
White comes to Howard from Southern University where he served as quarterbacks coach last year. White is the Bison and MEAC all-time leading passer and total offense leader with almost 10,000 yards during his productive career at Howard from 1994-98.
White gained valuable coaching experience early in his career as a quarterbacks coach for Texas Southern University in 2006-07.
He played professionally for five years with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. White also had stints with the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe and the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.
Bolton also has strong ties to Howard, having served as defensive back coach under Petty from 2002-06 and playing a key role in the development of current NFL standouts, Antoine “Deuce” Bethea of the Indianapolis Colts and Ronald Bartell, Jr of the St. Louis Rams.
Prior to coming to Howard, Bolton served as secondary coach for Delaware State since 2009. He also coached at Norfolk State from 1997-2001 and at Liberty University from 1996-97.
Bolton played collegiately at Norfolk State and had an outstanding career before playing in the NFL for the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns.
Jones comes from Delaware State where he served as defensive line coach since 2009. Jones also served in the same capacity for the Bison under Petty from 2002-06. Jones played for Howard and was a member of the 1996 team that captured the Black National championship.
Videographer: meazteam1
Brewer comes to Howard from Johnson C. Smith where he served as wide receivers coach from 2006-09. He was a four-year letterman at Howard from 1999-2003 and was named all MEAC in 2003.
Berry comes to Howard from North Carolina A&T where he served as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach the past five years. The 1996 Savannah State graduate has also served stints at Morgan State and Forth Valley State.
Smith comes to Howard from Bowie State where he had served since 2004. At Bowie State, Smith coached under Coach Harrell, who was the offensive coordinator. He graduated from North Carolina A&T in 1993.
Andrews brings a wealth of knowledge to the kicking game. He was a standout and all-conference selection at Morgan State. He served as both punter and placekicker for the Bears.
Samuel Pough, who served as wide receivers coach last season, will continue his role of video coordinator.
Baton Rouge, LA -- The football team posted its worst record in school history.
So did the men’s basketball program.
Both teams face NCAA postseason bans next year, thanks to substandard performance in the classroom.
Revenue streams have dried up. The fan base is fractured and shrinking.
This is what Southern University faces as it searches for a new athletic director. This is, obviously, a tough sell.
And the perfect man (or woman) has not yet emerged.
Interim athletic director Sandy Pugh has said that come July 1, she wants to return to “calling timeouts.” In other words, she wants to return to her full-time job as women’s basketball coach.
Greensboro, NC--Tailgating right next to the "Greatest Homecoming on Earth" may cost you more. NC A&T State University will kick off "Aggie Game Zone" this coming football season. The Game Zone will be a fenced-in area in the Sullivan, Benbow, East Lindsay street area near the stadium. You'll have to have a ticket to the game to get into the Game Zone area to tailgate. The athletics department says they're trying to be proactive and make tailgating safer for fans.
Assistant Athletics Director Brian Holloway told WFMY News 2 there have not been any tailgating security issues. He also said requiring game tickets will also bring in more money for athletic scholarships and the university's 15 athletic programs.
Houston, Texas - Texas Southern will lose 14.78 of the 63 football scholarships allowed for the 2011-12 school year because of its historically low performance under the NCAA’s Academic Progress Report formula, and an athletic department administrator said TSU could post a perfect APR score for the next two years and still run the risk of more sanctions because of past failures to retain and graduate football players.
TSU, which won the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s 2010 football title but dismissed coach Johnnie Cole this spring as it awaits the results of an NCAA probe that could include evidence of academic irregularities, suffered the most severe hit, in terms of lost scholarships, of any program sanctioned by the NCAA for APR shortcomings. Its football practice schedule will be cut from 20 hours per week to 16.
Across all sports, 103 programs received postseason bans, practice reductions or scholarship cuts. That group included NCAA Division I men’s basketball champion Connecticut, which will lose two scholarships...
Videographer: TexSouthern; TSU Commencement 2011 - Speaker John Silvanus Wilson, Jr., Part 1&2.
We continue our run through the 49ers2011 NFL Draft picks as we check out Trent Baalke's comments about each player's film. Baalke broke down some tape and gave some background on each of the 49ers draft picks, giving the media a better idea of who some of these guys are and how they might fit in with the 49ers. Today we check out the 49ers last draft pick, cornerback Curtis Holcomb of Florida A&M via Trent Baalke's film discussion.
In 2010 the 49ers drafted cornerback Phillip Adams out of South Carolina State with their final pick. A year later the49ers drafted Holcomb out of Florida A&M. Both schools are in the MEAC and based on the 49ers.com roster page, they're actually similar builds. I have no idea whether this means we're looking at similar players. Given their late round status, it can be difficult to get more details on such players. As Baalke says in the video in reference to Holcomb, "The guy Mel Kiper had to fumble through his stuff for cuz he wasn't rated." Videographer: sanfrancisco49ers; Baalke's Film Review - FAMU's Curtis Holcomb READ MORE, CLICK TITLE.
Anyone who watched Moses Ellis play for Prairie View A&M over the years, and particularly last year, knows why he's considered one of the top defensive backs in the country.
He led the SWAC and the FCS with eight interceptions and 22 passes defended. In addition, Ellis had 41 total tackles with 28 solos, and was selected to the Walter Camp Foundation Football Championship Subdivision All-American team.
In case you missed Ellis' moves last season, you'll have the chance to see the senior take center stage in the seventh annual MEAC/SWAC Challenge presented by Disney in September at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla, pitting the Prairie View A&M Panthers against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats.
Jackson State University head football coach
Rick Comegy is in final season of contract.
Nearly 90 percent, 16 of 18, of Jackson State University's athletic programs scored at or above the national average when the National Collegiate Athletic Association released its annual Academic Progress Rate (APR) report Tuesday, May 24. Two sports, football and baseball, failed to meet the standards.
Two JSU teams were nationally recognized for being in the top 10 percent, in regards to Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores and achievement. The women’s golf and tennis teams both received perfect APR scores of 1,000. Four other teams recorded scores of 970 and above: men’s tennis (970), volleyball (978), softball (982) and women’s cross country (994). Eight teams scored in the range 926-968: bowling (926), men’s indoor track (943), women’s indoor track (946), men’s outdoor track (946), men’s golf (946), soccer (963), women’s outdoor track (965) and men’s cross country (968). The women’s basketball team recorded a score of 917 and the men’s basketball team scored 906.
Football and baseball were the only two sports to fall below the national benchmark of 900. The football program scored 879 and the baseball team scored 888. The football team will be limited to 50.46 scholarships, 16 hours of practice time five days a week and a ban from post-season play (with the exception of the Southwestern Athletic Conference football championship game according to NCAA Bylaws). However, the final decision...
Southern's head football coach Lyvonia “Stump” Mitchell
was not with the Jaguars during the APR reporting period -- 2006/07 through 2009/10. Former coach Pete Richardson compiled a career record at SU of 134-62, including 5 SWAC Championships and 4 Black College National Titles. Richardson was fired on Dec. 7, 2009 after 17 seasons at Southern University.
INDIANAPOLIS -- NCAA President Mark Emmert expects athletes at historically black colleges and universities to make the grade -- and he's willing to help after seeing the results of the latest Academic Progress Rates.
The NCAA banned Jackson State and Southern of the Southwestern Athletic Conference from postseason play in football next season and did the same thing for Southern and Grambling in men's basketball, citing poor classroom performance by all three schools and a host of others in the SWAC and Mid-Eastern Athletic conferences.
The SWAC does not get an automatic bid to the NCAA's FCS playoffs, but its own conference title game could be affected. The NCAA released the penalties Tuesday. Southern became the first school to be banned from the postseason in two sports in the same year -- football and men's basketball -- because of academic performance.
DOVER, Del.- With the National Football League currently on lock down, two former Delaware State University standouts are pursuing their professional football dreams north of the border.
The Canadian Football League Winnipeg Blue Bombers have announced the signing of former DSU defensive tackle Andre Caroll to two-year contract, while the CFL's Hamilton Tiger Cats have inked former Hornet cornerback Francis Adjei to a three-year deal.
Caroll was a 2010 All-MEAC First Team and SportsNetwork FCS All-America Third Team selection. Last season, he was tops on the Hornets and fifth in the MEAC in tackles (8.7 pg). He set a Delaware State record for defensive linemen with 96 total tackles last year. In addition, Caroll was eighth in the MEAC in tackles-for-loss (1.23 pg … 13.5 total) and 13th in sacks (0.36 pg … 4.0 total). The Neptune, N.J., native was also credited with two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, five quarterbacks hurries and an interception. Caroll was an All-MEAC Second Team pick in 2009.
VANCOUVER, Canada - The BC Lions have added a fifth quarterback for training camp with the signing of Matt Johnson. Johnson played four seasons with Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida where he led the Wildcats to a school-best record of 10-2 and a share of the 2010 MEAC Championship.
The Lions are expected to add a sixth quarterback before rookies report to camp June 2 in Kamloops. BC is talking with University of California-Berkeley quarterback Kevin Riley. Lions coach and general manager Wally Buono says if a team "is going to be in excess at any position, it should be at the quarterback position."
Vancouver - The BC Lions Football Club announced today that quarterback Matt Johnson has signed with the team.
Johnson appeared in 32 games over four seasons at Bethune-Cookman throwing for a total of 3,283 yards on 243 completions as well as 18 TD’s. As a senior, Johnson led the Wildcats to a program-best 10-2 record and a share of the 2010 MEAC Championship. He led the conference in total offense with 2,514 total yards and passing average, connecting on 65.1 percent of his throws (140/215). He also ranked second in the MEAC and FCS in passing efficiency (152.5) and sixth in the MEAC in scoring touchdowns (20).
The Lions also added import running backs Tim Brown and Michael Smith. All three signings will attend BC Lions rookie camp slated to begin in Kamloops, BC on Thursday, June 2nd.
Matt Johnson described as a Damon Allen type
VANCOUVER - Three years ago, the B.C. Lions added a rookie quarterback to their training camp roster who was billed as the next coming of Tracy Ham, a 2010 inductee into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
But the book on Omar Haugabook turned out to be more baloney than prosciutto. The “electrifying” Haugabook short-circuited in rookie camp and was released before the CFL team’s main camp opened.
Thus, Tuesday’s announced training camp addition of a “Damon Allen type” quarterback – Matt Johnson from Florida’s Bethune-Cookman University – must be greeted with not a pinch, but a pickup truck load of salt. Johnson will arrive at training camp in Kamloops 72,381 yards in arrears of Allen, pro football’s all-time passing leader and a four-time Grey Cup winning quarterback.
For now, the only area of comparison is their ectomorphic body types. Johnson is listed at 5-10, 175 pounds. Allen was a will-o’-the-whipish 6-1, 175, and almost impossible to hit squarely because of his elusiveness.
You knew about Walter Payton. You knew about Jackie Slater and Harold Jackson and Willie Richardson and Jimmy Smith and Robert Brazile and W.C. Gorden. If you follow football at all, you knew about Jackson State's remarkable pedigree in the sport. But did you know about John R. Pinckett?
I didn't, not until Thursday when JSU kicked off its centennial celebration of playing college football with a public relations event at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
One hundred years ago this fall, Pinckett gathered together a group of 22 students to form the first JSU football team. The Tigers - were they the Tigers then? - played one game that first season. We're not sure about the date or the site, but we do know the score. Then Jackson College lost 17-0 to Alabama State, then Lincoln Normal.
We're not sure how Lincoln Normal managed 17 points, but...
The Mississippi Valley State University Department of Athletics announced recently that the Delta Devils have added another game to its 2011 slate. The addition of Murray State will give the Delta Devils 11 contests for the upcoming season and six home games for the program.
“We worked hard to find another contest for 2011 and we contacted a number of programs. In the end, an agreement with Murray State worked out well for both schools,” said interim athletics director Donald Sims.
The Racers went 6-5 last season, opening the season losing their first three games before closing out the season winning their last three contests. A member of the Ohio Valley Conference, this will be the first meeting between the Racers and the Delta Devils.
September
3 Alabama State Itta Bena, Miss. Rice-Totten Stadium 5p
10 Murray State Itta Bena, Miss. Rice-Totten Stadium 4p
17 @ Alcorn State Alcorn State, Miss. Jack Spinks Stadium TBA
ORLANDO, FL -- Bethune-Cookman University President Dr. Trudie Kibbe Reed and Florida A&M University President Dr. James H. Ammons, in concert with the Florida Classic Consortium, announced today that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has signed on to become the title sponsor for the annual football game between the two schools, as well as title sponsor of Battle of the Bands. The Consortium has also agreed to an extension with Florida Citrus Sports that will keep the game at Orlando’s Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium for the next five years.
The agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is for three years with an option to renew in years four and five. During that term, the game will be known as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Florida Classic, while the Battle will now be called Florida Blue Battle of the Bands.
Videographer: andremc69
The Florida Classic began in 1978 and has spent the last 17 years in Orlando. Since its move to Orlando in 1997, this annual clash between these two Historical Black Colleges and Universities has averaged more than 66,000 at the Citrus Bowl. The game has been a regular on national television -- the ESPN network of stations since 2005.
Due in large part to these strong attendance numbers and the number of people traveling to Orlando for the week leading up to the game, the Florida Classic generated an estimated $31 million in economic impact for Central Florida last year.
An East Baton Rouge Parish jury awarded former Grambling State University head football coach Melvin Spears Jr. nearly $600,000 on Friday after finding the school breached his contract when it fired him in late 2006.
Spears, who guided Grambling to the Southwestern Athletic Conference and black college national titles in 2005, was named head football coach at Alcorn State University earlier this year.
“It’s a great opportunity to be vindicated. I’m elated,’’ Spears, 51, said of the verdict by a jury of nine men and three women.
The panel voted unanimously to award Spears $449,500 for breach of employment contract and tacked on $11,000 in penalty wages and $139,000 in attorneys’ fees.
Baton Rouge, LA — Former Grambling State head football coach Melvin Spears Jr. was awarded nearly $600,000 by a jury that ruled the school breached his contract when he was fired in 2006.
Spears had a five-year contract when the university believed it could fire him with cause after the third season due to an NCAA investigation. However, the NCAA didn't find any major violations.
Spears, who was 20-14 at Grambling State and led the Tigers to Southwestern Athletic Conference and black college national titles in 2005, was named head coach at Alcorn State, also a SWAC school, earlier this year.
Videographer: FAMUTUBE1887; A Day in the Life of Gregory Boler Jr., FAMU Rattlers football player and a 2011 FAMU graduate from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Watch as he makes his family proud. This is a Day in his life...
Videographer: FAMUTube1887; On Saturday, April 30, 2011, nearly 1,400 candidates graduated from Florida A&M University (FAMU). These are the students who started classes in 2007 -- the same year Dr. James H. Ammons became president of FAMU. However, before they receive their diplomas, some graduating seniors share their thoughts on Dr. Ammons and his tenure at FAMU.
Jacksonville and Green Bay promised they'd take him in the NFL Draft on Saturday. Neither one called. So Florida A&M cornerback Curtis Holcomb dozed off. It might have been because he didn't think his name would be called or he was a little worn out from shooting hoops earlier in the day to calm his nerves.
"I was trying to be patient throughout the whole process," said Holcomb, who eventually was selected by the San Francisco 49ers. He was so into his nap that he might have missed the call from the 49ers if it weren't for his best friend, who had visited from Jacksonville to be with him for the draft.
"My best friend called me and it was a surreal moment," said Holcomb on Sunday. "I didn't even know how to take that but it was a blessing."
Videographer: FAMUTUBE1887; An interview with 2011 FAMU Rattlers/S.F.49ers draftee, Cornerback Curtis Holcomb, a native of Miami, Florida and graduate of Southridge High School.
HOUSTON - Texas Southern University, reigning champions of the Southwestern Athletic Conferrence, hired former Oakland Raiders receivers coach Charles Coe as its new offensive coordinator. Coe was the Raiders receivers coach in 2007 and worked in personnel in 2008.
Prior to that Coe was head coach at Alabama State for four years where he was 29-18 and won two SWAC East Division titles and the 2004 league championship.
"I hired Charles because of his experience and because he is a very good teacher," said Kevin Ramsey, TSU interim head coach, in an interview with FOX 26 Sports. "Charles will help us upgrade our overall football IQ and he is respected throughout the coaching profession."
Tallahassee, FL -- Joe Taylor has received more than a few telephone calls in the past month. They come from throughout the Southeast and other parts of the country from players, parents and alumni who try to convince the Florida A&M football coach that they've got his next super athlete.
