Ram Ramblings: Change of mindset a key during Maynor's tenue

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --   I haven’t arrived in Alabama yet but will get there later tonight to cover what has to be the biggest moment in athletics in Winston-Salem State history on Saturday.

Those players and students who were around when Coach Big House Gaines won the 1966-67 Division II basketball championship might beg to differ but Saturday’s Division II national championship game is a big deal. The 14-0 Rams will take on Valdosta State at 1 p.m. and if you can’t be in Alabama it will be live on ESPN2. Also WSJS (600) and WSNC (90.5) are scheduled to air the game on radio.

One of the things I remember about Connell Maynor’s three years here has been how he changed the culture. It used to be that winning a CIAA title was what it was all about, and then if the playoffs came, then that’s OK too.

I first noticed a big difference last season when the Rams won the CIAA title in Durham and beat Elizabeth City State. I was down on the sidelines and all Nic Cooper wanted to talk about was “the Natty.” And other players followed suit and while they were excited to have won a CIAA title that wasn’t the mindset.

Fast forward to this season and the mindset hasn’t changed. The Rams fell short last season losing in the semifinals but a win on Saturday will complete the three-year journey that Maynor and Athletics Director Bill Hayes started in the spring of 2010.

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‘A huge deal,’ Winston-Salem State looks to be first HBCU to win national title

COACH CONNELL MAYNOR
WINSTON-SALEM STATE RAMS

FLORENCE, Ala. — No. 2 Winston-Salem State has already gone deeper into the playoffs than any other team from the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Now, the Rams are a win away from making history for black college football, too.

They face two-time national champion Valdosta State on Saturday hoping to become the first HBCU team to win Division II’s football national title.

“That’s a huge deal. For our conference, the HBCUs, to have a chance to play for a national championship and be the first one to win one, is a steppingstone,” Winston-Salem State coach Connell Maynor said. “It’s a great opportunity for us. We’re happy to be here carrying the flag for the CIAA and HBCU. It’d be a great thing if we could pull it off Saturday.”

2012 DII FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Preview: Rams in search of history Stats: Valdosta St. Winston-Salem St.
Scoreboard Interactive Bracket

The only other HBCU team to make the championship game, Central State of Ohio, lost 41-21 to North Dakota State in 1983.

Winston-Salem (14-0) is also trying to become just the fifth team to go 15-0.

Standing in the way is a Valdosta State team seeking its first title since 2007, David Dean’s debut season as head coach.

Winston-Salem is in its third season since aborting a Division I move for financial reasons. The program’s former status is just one more reason for Valdosta State (11-2), which ended the regular season ranked 17th, to keep the underdog mentality that formed with a rough start.

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Division I gambit a distant memory for Winston-Salem Rams

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --   There’s not much talk on the Winston-Salem State campus these days about “that Division I thing.”

As the WSSU football team prepares to play Valdosta State for the NCAA Division II football championship Saturday, the focus, quite naturally, is on that game. But there was a time, not long ago, when alumni and fans were divided after the administration stopped the transition to Division I.

“I remember that day vividly,” senior safety Malcolm Rowe said this week.

“That day” was Sept. 11, 2009 — the day Chancellor Donald Reaves announced that WSSU would remain in Division II and end the costly move to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Division I.

By the time the 2009 football season ended, WSSU was 1-10, and the athletics department was in deep turmoil.

Reaves said this week he’d rather talk about the turnaround that Coach Connell Maynor and Athletics Director Bill Hayes have made in revitalizing the football program. He wasn’t interested in rehashing the decision to stay in Division II.

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Southern set to choose Odums

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Ninety days after Dawson Odums took over as interim football coach at Southern University, 19 days after the end of the regular season and 10 days after Athletic Director William Broussard began digging into a pool of six semifinalists, the Jaguars have apparently ended their search where it began.

With Odums.

According to sources familiar with the search, Broussard will recommend Odums’ name to the SU System Board of Supervisors at their on-campus meeting Friday afternoon, ending a search that effectively began when Southern reassigned Stump Mitchell on Sept. 14.

The Jaguars played nine games after that, going 4-5 with Odums in charge. Three of those wins came against their top rivals — Jackson State, Florida A&M and Grambling.

Four of their losses were close. One of them — a 50-21 wipeout against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the eventual champion — was not close.

Broussard declined to confirm the recommendation.

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Brian Jenkins Inks Contract Extension at B-CU

COACH BRIAN JENKINS

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida  --  It was announced Thursday morning that Bethune-Cookman University head football coach Brian Jenkins has signed an extension to stay at B-CU to lead the Wildcats Football program into the future.

Jenkins, recently completing his third year at the helm in Daytona Beach, has taken the Wildcats to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs in two of his three years (2010, '12) with the program. As the 2012 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Coach of the Year, he led the Wildcats to an MEAC title and the first undefeated conference season for the Maroon and Gold since 1984. This past season, the Wildcats went 9-3 (8-0 MEAC) and played host to Coastal Carolina in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs at Municipal Stadium in Daytona Beach. It was the second MEAC title for the Cats under Jenkins - the fifth of its kind in school history - and they played host to an FCS Playoff competition for the third time in the past 10 years.

Since his arrival in Daytona Beach, Jenkins has compiled an overall record of 27-8, and an unprecedented 21-3 mark in league play. He has helped the Wildcats to two MEAC titles, two FCS Playoff appearances and been named the MEAC Coach of the Year twice.

"This is a place where I come to work each day and know that I'm surrounded by family," said Jenkins. "I want to thank so many people, but most importantly our President - Dr. Edison O. Jackson, and Lynn Thompson, our Director of Athletics, for giving so much of their time and talents to make this contract extension happened. I learned so much about them, not only as administrators, but I spent time with them as men. That really helped me to make my decision staying at Bethune-Cookman that much easier."

Jenkins' name had been associated with a job of similar position at Southern University in Louisiana as recently as this week.



"Southern has a great tradition and that is a great university with a wonderful athletic director," commented Jenkins. "But after spending time with God, my family at home, my family at work, and just hearing from so many passionate fans of Bethune-Cookman University - I just knew staying in Daytona Beach at B-CU was the right decision for me and all involved. Our fans are the best."

A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, Jenkins was recently tabbed as the AFCA FCS Region Two Coach of the Year for the second time, as well as being named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.

For all the latest information on the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats, follow the official Twitter feed, @BCUathletics, or "Like Us" on Facebook at Bethune-Cookman Athletics.


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Winston-Salem seeks first NCAA Division title against Valdosta on Saturday

FLORENCE, Alabama -- Not that you're hustling to plop down a bet on the NCAA Division II national championship game this Saturday, but if you do, you might want to take the over. This one promises to keep the scoreboard operator busy.

Winston-Salem State, ranked No. 2 in the final coaches' poll, averaged 42.69 points per game this year. Opponent Valdosta State, ranked No. 17, averaged 42.67 points. Those were the fifth- and sixth-most productive scoring machines in Division II.

Meanwhile, Winston-Salem was a modest eighth in scoring defense, Valdosta just 31st.

NCAA VIDEO: WSSU ON CAMPUS

Winston-Salem State (14-0) comes into the title game (noon CST at Braly Stadium, ESPN2 live telecast) as the least-experienced but in some ways most motivated of the two.

The Rams were also undefeated as they cruised into last season's tournament semifinals, standing at 13-0 before losing to Wayne State, 21-14.

The pass-happy Rams are led by quarterback Kameron Smith, who has completed 198 of 322 passes for 3,043 yards and 42 touchdowns.

Winston-Salem, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association champ, has had little exposure to the NCAA tournament. The Rams reached the second round in 1978, then lost in the first round in 1987, 1990 and 1991 before their march to the semis last season.

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Stellar play catapults WSSU Rams into title game

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  --  A few days have passed since Winston-Salem State administered a 41-18 beat-down of West Texas A&M  in the NCAA Division II football semifinals.

The Ramatized crowd at Bowman Gray Stadium had good reason to dance and prance with glee. The victory catapulted their beloved home team into Saturday’s national championship in Florence, Ala. WSSU takes on Valdosta State (Ga.) at 1 p.m. in a nationally televised game on ESPN2.

“We played great (in the semifinals), almost flawless,” said Connell Maynor, Winston-Salem State’s head coach. “Now we have to play great just one more time.”

Advancing to the title game, however, is not nearly enough for this bunch. There’s more to come. Maynor has groomed his team to be ready for this appointed time. It’s safe to say that for WSSU, complete fulfillment will only come by winning the championship trophy and the banner that comes with it.

“From the very first day he got here, Coach Maynor has constantly preached to us about winning a national championship,” said linebacker Carlos Fields, who had 10 tackles against West Texas A&M. “This is bigger than WSSU, bigger than Coach Maynor, bigger than the city of Winston-Salem.”

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