Former NFL Player Named FVSU Head Football Coach

HEAD COACH KEVIN PORTER
COURTESY: FORT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

FORT VALLEY, Georgia -- Fort Valley State University Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Joshua W. Murfree, Jr., has named Kevin Porter as the new head football coach.

A press conference is scheduled for Monday, June 13, 2016 at 11 a.m. in FVSU's Health and Physical Education Complex lobby.

Porter has an extensive background in coaching, including 10 seasons as both an assistant and head coach at the professional level. His coaching experience also includes stints at the University of West Georgia as an assistant coach and Point University as head coach and athletic director.

Porter coached the Arena Football League and the associated developmental league called arenafootball2 (af2.) In 2000, Porter was head coach with the Pensacola Barracudas, followed by several seasons as head coach of the Macon Knights. He took his afF2 teams to the playoffs all four seasons and had won the most games in af2 history (45-27) before moving on to serve as defensive coordinator for the AFL's New Orleans VooDoo, and then as head coach of the ALF's Kansas City Brigade.

Prior to his professional career, Porter was a three-year letterman, two-year starter and All-State performer at defensive back for the Warner Robins Demons in Warner Robins, Ga. as well as being a member of the 1981 National Championship team.

As a collegiate player at Auburn University, Porter was a four-year starter, All-American and two-time All-Southeastern Conference performer. Kevin was named defensive MVP of the 1984 Liberty Bowl and was selected to Auburn's Team of the Century. A third-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1988, Porter made the NFL All-Rookie Team at safety. He spent six years in the NFL, ending his career in 1993 with the New York Jets.

Porter has served as an assistant coach and head coach on the collegiate level as well. Porter was defensive coordinator for Mid America Nazarene University, where his unit ranked as one of the best in the Heart of America Conference. Porter was head football coach at both Avila University and Point University, where he spent two seasons launching the football program while also serving as athletic director at the school. Most recently, Porter was the assistant head coach at The University of West Georgia.

Porter is a graduate of Avila University with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and holds a master's degree from Concordia University-Irvine in Athletic Administration.

He and his wife, Annjela, have two sons, Jacob and Kellen.

COURTESY FORT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

XU's Horn named to NAIA's National Administrative Council

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana Director of Athletics and Recreation Jason Horn has been named to the NAIA's National Administrative Council (NAC). Horn's 3-year appointment will officially begin this weekend at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) annual convention in Dallas.

The NAC helps shape policy at the highest level of the NAIA while governing rules and ratings, championship competition, awards and statistics, and experience and enhancement. The NAC is an exclusive group of approximately three dozen members representing all the NAIA conferences and approximately 250 schools within the NAIA. A minimum of 10 athletic directors and 10 conference commissioners serve on the NAC.

Horn will serve on the Championship Competition Subcommittee, which sets policies and procedures pertaining to NAIA national championship events.

"It is an honor to be appointed to the NAC and represent Xavier and the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference with the NAIA," Horn said. "The goal of the NAC is to strengthen the NAIA and its member institutions in providing our student-athletes the best possible experience, both academically and athletically."

The NAC conducts its business annually at the NAIA and the NACDA conventions. NAC subcommittees also meet throughout the academic year to review appeals and special requests from NAIA members and various coaches associations.

Horn is in his third year leading Xavier's athletic programs. He also serves on the NAIA's Competitive Experience Committee. Horn is completing a one-year term as the chair of the GCAC athletic directors. He also serves on the board of directors of the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
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Cervantes Jackson finds success at Albany State after late start to track career

CERVANTES JACKSON
COURTESY: ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

ALBANY, Georgia -- For three years at Bainbridge High School, Cervantes Jackson believed in staying in his comfort zone.

On the football field, he was content with playing both ways. He was a wide receiver for the offense, and doubled as a cornerback on the defensive unit. When springtime arrived, Jackson had no problem stealing bases and chasing fly balls in the outfield as a centerfielder.

Additionally, Jackson had another area where he found security. During lunch and between classes, he could always be found performing the latest dance moves.

However, during his senior year, Jackson found himself in a realm where he was unaccustomed.

“I really didn’t want to join the track team,” Jackson admitted. “My coaches Larry and Pat Clark (who are brothers), wanted me to come out there to see what I could do. I really wasn’t feeling it, so I had no CERVANTES plans of going out there.”

Although Jackson had made up his mind about not participating in track & field, there was one other person who would have the final word.

CONTINUE READING

5 SWAC teams with the most to prove in 2016

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Each team enters the college football season with something to prove in some form or fashion.

This rings true in the SWAC as well.

Five teams stick out above the rest, though, and The Clarion-Ledger will take a look at those teams with the most to prove this fall.

Let's start with a team that didn't make the list.

Honorable mention

Alcorn State: Yes, in theory, a back-to-back conference conference champion shouldn't have much to prove. The Braves, which went 9-4 in 2015, lost the architect of their recent success in January when Jay Hopson left to become the coach at Southern Miss. So it will be up to new Alcorn State coach Fred McNair to prove he and the remaining coaches can keep the program's momentum going.

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East Ascension pitcher McInnis signs with Southern

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Falling behind and facing a bases-loaded jam with no outs, East Ascension decided to cut the day short for ace Austin Millet, and instead, looked to an inexperienced sophomore named Austin McInnis to stop the bleeding.

McInnis was nervous. He went into the game never expecting to take the mound.

Despite the anxiety, the youngster pushed through and quickly showed what kind of potential he possessed. He struck out 10 Acadiana batters, gave up just one hit and never let the Rams score again.

That performance didn’t just impress his coaches at East Ascension.

“We got on the bus and headed back for Gonzales, and I got a call from a coach named Elliot Jones. I had no idea who he was,” McInnis said. “He told me that he was with Southern University. He really liked what he saw out of me, and he told me he was going to come back and watch some more.”

McInnis’ play that day and the phone call that followed all led to him proudly signing his letters of intent last Tuesday evening.

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Savannah State and the ultimate rebuild

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- Football coaches are a confident sort, but Erik Raeburn seems more optimistic than most. He accepted the Savannah State head coaching job in March, agreeing to take on one of the hardest jobs in college football, in a completely new area of the country for him. But he sees potential and he feels he's uniquely qualified.

"I think this is a great situation. Obviously it's an excellent school, so when we bring recruits and their parents to campus, they can feel like, if my son comes here, when football's over he's going to be able to use his education to get a good job. And the location is excellent. Savannah's one of the most beautiful cities I've been to! We're eight to 10 miles from the beach and eight miles from downtown, where there's constantly festivals and concerts. And there's a ton of opportunities for guys to do internships while they're working on their education.



"And our location from the standpoint of recruiting ... there are so many good high school football players in this area. If you drew a 2.5-hour radius around our campus, there are a million guys that are excellent football players. And we can give in-state tuition to students from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina because they border us. The recruiting base here is pretty fantastic."

All of these things are subjectively true. But they've been true for the previous guys taking on this job, too.

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Hampton U. Sailing Finishes Historic Season at College Nationals

VIDEO 

SAN DIEGO, Califorinia -- With history already having been made, the Hampton University sailing team competed in the Gill Co-Ed College Sailing Nationals on Tuesday and Wednesday, marking the program's first-ever trip to the regatta.
 
The Pirates finished 11th in the Eastern Semifinal, winding up two spots shy of advancing to the finals.
 
Hampton finished with 253 points; ninth-place Fordham had 214 points. Still, the Pirates finished ahead of such schools as Wisconsin (13th), Hawaii (14th), and Florida (15th).
 
Maximilian Kuester and Giuditta Di Laghi sailed in the A Division, as they had all season, picking up a race win and two fourth-place efforts in 12 total races run.
 
The duo accounted for 121 points.
 
In the B Division, Luca Taglialegne, Elisabeth Kuester, and Miles Braden finished second in their first race, while also recording four other top-10 race finishes. The B Division team racked up 132 points.
 
Hampton finishes its seventh season under head coach Alessandro Ambrosi with seven regatta wins – including four in five weeks during the spring – as well as the program's first-ever trip to the College Sailing Nationals.
 
For more information on Hampton University sailing, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS