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Before I begin, let me give a big shout out to
all the SID's throughout the conference for all their help and support putting
together the weekly column. Next, let me say thank you to all the readers of the
column, without you there would be no me. Finally, let me give a heavy duty yell
to Darlene Watts, your words of encouragement and listening ear really kept me
going.
Now, on with the show!
Miles College looks in a new direction
Hall of Famer William "Billy" Joe has
been named head football coach at Miles College, athletic administrators
announced today. The former head coach at Florida A&M University, Joe, 67,
has recorded more victories than any other football coach at an HBCU other than
Eddie Robinson.
The 67-year-old Joe is 237-108-4 in 31 seasons
as a head coach at FAMU, Cheyney (Pa.) State and Central (Ohio) State.
"This brings a whole lot to our
program," Miles Athletics Director Augustus James said Tuesday. "A
different caliber of student-athlete will be drawn to our program. People want
to play for a legend."
Joe is replacing Wade Streeter, who was fired
last week after seven seasons at the Fairfield Division II school.
Joe, who played seven years in the NFL for
three teams and won a Super Bowl as part of the 1968 New York Jets, was inducted
into both the FAMU hall of fame and the National Football Foundation's College
Hall of Fame this year.
Joe has been out of coaching since he was fired
in 2005 in the wake of an NCAA investigation of the FAMU athletics program. Joe
sued the school over a salary dispute and settled out of court after the NCAA
found the coach was not to blame for any of the multiple eligibility issue
violations uncovered.
"We had to ask questions," James said
of the NCAA probe, "and we got answers from two or three different sources
that satisfied our questions."
Mark E. Walker, who represented Joe in his
lawsuit against the university, said the coach settled with FAMU against his
advice after the NCAA's Committee on Infractions found no wrongdoing on his
part.
"He's just a first-class guy," Walker
said. "Rarely do I have a guy who will resolve a case when they clearly
would win because they wanted to save some heartache.
"The proof is in the pudding. After all
that, FAMU inducted him into the hall of fame here. Coach Joe never had a harsh
thing to say about FAMU and he didn't want to sue. A number of his players
called me to offer to show up anywhere at whatever courtroom to testify for him.
"It would be a great thing for (Miles) to
get a man like Coach Joe."
The SIAC is in the National Championship
Game
The NCAA Division II Playoff Committee has
chosen the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference to officiate the
Division II National Championship game December 15, 2007 in Florence, AL.
The officiating crew did a great job in their
previous duty where the SIAC seven man crew officiated a first round game during
the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The SIAC crew will officiate the Championship
game pitting Valdosta State University vs. Northern Missouri State University.
This marks the second time an SIAC officiating crew has been chosen to officiate
the National Championship game with the last appearance occurring in 1993.
Members of that crew included Jimmy Askew, Greg Smith. Larry Morrow, Sr, Walter
Dockery, Simmie Lavender and Dr. Moses Norman (Current SIAC Head of Officials.
Dr. Norman stated "This is without doubt a
compliment to the SIAC, to their crew, and to all fellow SIAC football
officials. We are proud of them and know they will represent the SIAC
well."
Dr. William E. Lide, SIAC Commissioner stated
"The SIAC houses some of the best officials in the nation and we are proud
that the NCAA committee agrees. We know that they will do a fine job this week
and we are proud of the job you have done all year."
The officiating crew includes:
Referee Roderick Holloway
Umpire Kenneth Oglesby
Linesman Samuel McKenzie
Line Judge Alton Bryant
Field Judge Timothy Cool
Side Judge Vincent Ellison
Back Judge Bernard Jones
Lane College promotes from within
Lane College has announced the promotion of
Dearrion Snead to head football coach. He replaces Johnnie Cole, who was named
head football coach at Texas Southern University last week.
Snead was Lane's defensive coordinator last
season, his first on the Dragons' staff. This will be his first job as a head
coach.
Last season, Lane's defense ranked second in
the SIAC and 11th in NCAA Division II
Prior to joining the staff at Lane, Snead was
defensive back coach snd special teams coordinator at Shaw University for one
year following a stint as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator at
Guilford College.
Snead, 38, has also coached at Arizona Western
College, Texas Southern University, Virginia State University, Southwest State
University, Tiffin University, and Tennessee State University.
Last summer, the 16-year veteran was one of 30
coaches selected to participate in the 2007 NCAA Men's Coaches Academy,
"Being a head coach has been my goal since
I started coaching," Snead told the "Jackson Sun" newspaper prior
to a press conference announcing his appointment. "I'm real thankful for
the opportunity. There won't be any major changes. I'm not going to try to fix
what's not broken. The foundation is there, and I'm going to try to build on
it."
A member of the Longwood (NY) High School
Athletics Hall of Fame, Snead is a 1996 graduate of St. Joseph's in Long Island.
He began his college career at North Carolina
A&T State University, where he played varsity football. He spent four years
as a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. As a Marine, he received
the Kuwait Liberation Medal, the National Defense Medal, and the Good Conduct
Medal and was named to the All-Marine Football Team
Pioneer Bowl Review
Two great quarters of football were enough to
complete Tuskegee's undefeated season.
The Golden Tigers won Pioneer Bowl X at
Benedict's Charlie W. Johnson Stadium with a 58-51 victory against Virginia
Union in the only bowl game for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Offense was certainly the name of the game on
Saturday. The unofficial numbers show the two quarterbacks combining for 730
yards and nine touchdowns passing.
Virginia Union's Lamar Little found receiver
Michael Hampton on touchdown strikes of 84 and 75 yards, as well as a 30-yard
play that set up another score in the first quarter to open the game. After a
Gil Hernandez field goal, the Panthers led 17-0.
"We felt like they were probably coming in
overconfident," Little said. "We wanted to jump on'em early."
After punting on its first three possessions,
Tuskegee began five of its next six drives in VU territory and took advantage,
scoring 36 second-quarter points.
"We weren't ready to play [early],"
Tuskegee coach Willie Slater said. "We were able to come back and somehow
score 58 points."
Tuskegee had trailed all opponents this season
for less than eight minutes before yesterday. Mainly, it was a testament to
Atkinson and the Tigers' offense.
"We knew his guy, the quarterback, was
special," Jones said. "He hurt us big offensively. He made some big
plays."
"Kind of like our guy."
Up 50-24 after three quarters, Tuskegee watched
the Panthers run off 27 straight points.
Lamar Little threw three touchdown passes and
the Panthers took the lead on a fumble return. Niles Rainey picked up an
Atkinson fumble and raced 50 yards to give Virginia Union a 51-50 lead with 1:43
remaining.
"I thought I had control and then I felt
it slipping out," Atkinson said. "The next thing I knew, I saw their
guy picking it up and nobody there to catch him."
"I got a little weak in the knees, I'm not
going to lie," coach Willie Slater said. "That was shocking. That was
unbelievable."
The suspense had just started.
On the ensuing kickoff, Mario Jackson returned
the kickoff 41 yards to the Virginia Union 43. Two snaps later, after Tuskegee
took a timeout at the 57.2-second mark, Atkinson threw to a well-covered
English.
English had one defender on his back and
another coming over for help once Atkinson released the ball. When it arrived,
Virginia Union defenders Henry Tolliver III and D.J. Spellmon bounced off as
English made the play. Both were on the ground while English ran into the end
zone to make it 56-51.
"At first, I lost it in the lights, but I
was glad to find it again," said English, who didn't know until after the
game that he fought off two defenders for the catch.
"We had to make a play," he added.
"Somebody had to step up and it had to be receiver because we had to throw
it."
"He seems to always get caught up in the
shuffle," Slater said. "Jacary always gets the MVPs and that stuff,
but without (English) this year, we wouldn't have been undefeated, that's for
sure."
"I ain't ever seen one like it," VUU
coach Arrington Jones said after the 4-hour, 5-minute game.
Virginia Union turned out to be one weapon
short.
The Golden Tigers upend Virginia Union 58-51 in
Pioneer Bowl X, this was a fantastic finish to a game that few involved will
forget.
Questions? Comments? Concerns?
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