Florida A&M Rattlers' defense works hard, hits hard

Photo: FAMU Coach Orlando Mitjans, defensive coordinator/secondary coach; first year, a 1982 graduate of Northeastern (Mass.) University.

The drill looked pretty routine. FAMU’s defensive front rushed up to a mock offense, then backed off upon contact.

Defensive coordinator Orlando Mitjans wanted the play repeated — again and again. Defensive end Kendrick Washington clearly understood what Mitjans wanted.

“We just put it in our hearts and our heads to make most of the plays,” Washington said after the Rattlers went through the sixth day of spring workouts on Tuesday.
The defense has been showing a tenacious attitude even before the team put on pads on the third day. The front seven has been especially aggressive, showing unusual speed this early.

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If you are attempting to keep up with the players on the FAMU roster, here is what we have been able to confirm from this article:

#71 Cameron Houston, Nose Tackle/DT, 6-0/285 soph., Rockledge H.S., Rockledge, FL.
#97 Kendrick Washington, DE, 6-5/245, soph., Sebastian River H.S., Sebastian, FL.
#91 Marquiste Ramos, DE, 6-5/245, junior, Bayside H.S., Bayside, FL.
#99 Joseph Weems, DE, 6-5/245, RS junior, Carol City H.S., Miami, FL.

The class standings indicated are the anticipated school level for Fall 2008.

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South Carolina State football holds fifth practice

South Carolina State continued spring football drills Monday as the Bulldogs conducted the fifth of 15 scheduled workouts.

A good bit of Monday's workout was devoted to correcting mistakes from the team's first scrimmage this past Saturday, according to head coach Buddy Pough. The Bulldogs also devoted some time to fundamentals, sharpening execution of assignments, red zone offense and defense, and third down-and-medium execution.

Pough said overall execution was fair but that his team appeared sluggish in the beginning before coming alive near the end of the workout.

VIDEO: S.C. State quarterback Malcolm Long in 5th Bulldog spring practice session (3/31/08).



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UAPB using spring practice for evaluation

As spring practice begins today for the Arkansas-Pine Bluff football team, the Golden Lions are under evaluation by first-year head coach Monte Coleman.

Coleman, who has served as the Golden Lions’ defensive coordinator the last two seasons and will continue that role this season, said Monday that the next three weeks will be an evaluation period for his football team.

“I addressed the team and told them that the spring is an evaluation period,” Coleman said. “Every position is open.”

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Tennessee State University alum coaches Michigan State Spartans golf team

Photo: Michigan State University Spartans head golf coach Sam Puryear

Life coach: The Sam Puryear impact

Photo Gallery: Sam and the Spartans, http://www.golfweektv.com/gallery/SamPuryear

It’s been another frigid winter in central Michigan. Snowfall in East Lansing has been about 14 inches above average, which isn’t good news for Michigan State senior Nate Gunthorpe. The Spartans have putting practice at 6 a.m. three days per week, and it’s a few miles from his off-campus house to the school’s indoor Rearick Golf Complex.

“Waking up, getting snow off your car, warming it up and being there by 6 ready to putt,” Gunthorpe said. “We definitely know why we’re doing it.”

Waiting for Gunthorpe and his teammates is first-year head coach Sam Puryear. Standing 6 feet tall and dressed impeccably in Spartan green, Puryear is a man with a plan. His energy is palpable, and his preparation is relentless. Always approachable and never short on one-liners, Puryear is just nine months removed from his first college coaching job, a 1 1/2-year stint as Stanford’s assistant coach, in which he helped head coach Conrad Ray guide the Cardinal to the 2007 NCAA championship.

Now, as the first black head golf coach in a major NCAA Division I conference, Puryear has the reins of the Spartans, a team that rose into the top 20 earlier this season.

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Mini Bio:
Sam is a 1992 graduate of Tennessee State University. He served three years as the assistant golf coach at Stanford University, winning the NCAA Division I national golf championship last season (2007). Prior to joining Stanford, he served as Executive Director of East Lake Junior Golf Academy in Atlanta, GA., where he managed the development of golf instruction and curriculum for an academy serving more than 1,000 youth. Puryear has a proven track record for fundraising, campaigning, and program support.

Samuel G. Puryear Jr. was born and raised in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Great article!!

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3-way battle for quarterback at WSSU

Photo: Winston Salem State University head football coach Kermit Blount.

If Winston-Salem State had to play a football game today, Coach Kermit Blount said it would be tough to choose a starting quarterback.

One of the priorities during spring practices, which ended yesterday, was to find a starter from the three candidates. But with the final spring scrimmage being rained out yesterday, Blount couldn’t say who won the battle.

The three candidates - junior Jarrett Dunston, sophomore Brian Wynn and freshman Tienne Jefferson - all had their good and bad moments during the 14 practices that were spread out during the past three weeks.

Another candidate who will arrive in the fall is Branden Williams, a talented player from Seale, Ala. Williams, 6-1 and 190 pounds, came to watch practice on Friday, making the long drive with his father, Arthur. Williams, who is playing high-school baseball this spring, passed for more than 3,000 yards and rushed for more than 2,000 while scoring a combined 45 touchdowns in his career.

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LSU opens key week at Southern Jaguars

Paul Mainieri gathered the LSU baseball team near first base Sunday at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., fresh off its only victory of a three-game series at Florida.

LSU (16-10) will play Southern (10-10) at 6 p.m. today at Lee-Hines Field. "Playing Southern at Southern will be tough,” Mainieri said. “Centenary’s been playing good ball. They beat Arkansas the other day. That’s not going to be an easy game."

“All the pressure is on LSU to win,” Cador said. “There’s no pressure on us. LSU better come in, and they’d better be able to beat us by a whole bunch of runs, or people are going to think there’s something wrong.”

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Wells is Savannah State University football's last hope

Photo: SSU Tigers head coach Robby Wells is on the hot seat before the season starts for the 2008 Tigers.


Robby Wells saw Savannah State's football program as "a little gold mine" six years ago. Now the Tigers' head miner, Wells must find that hidden mineral vein. Or SSU should close its mine for good.

This is a program in peril. Nine coaches in 13 years, four since Wells became taken with the school as a South Carolina State assistant in 2002. Ten wins since moving to Division I-AA in 2000, only three against I-AA competition. A fan base dwindling with each coaching change, blowout loss and stranger-than-fiction episode, like student coaches selling steroids to players.

Wells is the Tigers' last hope. The administration made a long-term commitment when they hired him four months ago, with athletics' headmaster Claud Flythe promising Wells will be at SSU as long as he himself is.

Wells will either make the Tigers respectable or drive them to extinction. Such is the risk taken by a historically black college that hires a young white man with no head coaching experience to lead its marquee athletic program.

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Former Florida A&M head coach Rubin Carter was a finalist for this position. Kent Schoolfield, a former Fort Vally State head coach, and FAMU and Florida State assistant coach was also a finalist. Georgia Southern's legendary QB/current Bethune Cookman assistant coach Raymond Gross was a finalist.

But, the SSU president selects Robby Wells, with no head coaching experience--period, over coaches that have had some success at the Division I level or higher.

Carter was a Miami All-American and NFL All Pro; Schoolfield was an NFL player and FAMU All American; Gross won national championships with GSU and was an All-American player. Wells credentials just doesn't measure up to the other coaches that were available to SSU.

In all fairness to Wells and his staff, they have no chance of winning, even with a 12 game schedule stacked with NAIA and Division II programs.

Inadequate scholarships--no incoming talent equals no winning program. You can't attract Division I level talent based on a pipe dream and an unproven coaching staff. Who would put their football future into the hands of an unproven commodity like Coach Wells.

It can get worst than the Tigers ever imagined with a possible record of 1-11 or 0-12 in 2008, and a Tigers fan base quickly disappearing. SSU in its current condition with NCAA probation and reduced scholarships, would be hard pressed to be a competitive Division II program, today.

Nine coaches in 13 years speaks volumes about the ineptitude of the SSU administration when it comes to the major economic engine of the school.

Moreover, why schedule 12 football games in 2008, and only play four games on the Tigers home field? You don't make money playing road games at Division II and NAIA stadiums, so what's the logic behind that move?

The Tigers are not a Division I FCS football program in any stretch of the imagination, and until a full commitment is made financially to SSU football, attempting to compete at the FCS (formerly 1-AA) level is a major disservice to the Tigers student-athletes and fan base.

It will take more than hope (with no head coaching experience) to win at SSU. The first order of business should have been to hire a competent athletic director.

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