It's the Big Boys turn now
NCAA sanctions loom after probe of rules violations, firing of coach
08/24/03
MIKE PERRIN
News staff writer
MONTGOMERY -- Alabama Crimson Tide supporters are worried that new coach Mike Shula is at a huge disadvantage because he was hired after the team had gone through spring practice.
Charles Coe wishes he had it so good.
"I got here the same day the players did," said Coe, the interim head coach of the Alabama State University Hornets.
Coe, 53, was given a six-month contract to replace the fired Lawrence "L.C." Cole, who is at the center of a storm of controversy in Montgomery.
Cole and assistants Johnnie Cole and Richard Freeman were suspended on Aug.1, 10 days after the school sent a report to the NCAA and the Southwestern Athletic Conference detailing several rules violations in the football program.
The investigation of the program lasted eight months and the NCAA has given the school's report to its investigative staff. Sanctions may be forthcoming.
In the aftermath of the probe, Athletics Director Richard Cosby quit and returned to Stillman College where he had been AD. Cole and his lawyers claim that Cosby was brought in on a "witch hunt" to get rid of Cole, who had been hired by former ASU trustee Donald Watkins, over the objections of current trustee Joe L. Reed.
Once Cole was suspended, more than a dozen ASU players who had been recruited by the Coles sued the school. The players claimed the school breached a contract because they came to ASU with the understanding that L.C. Cole was going to be the coach. The suit was dismissed last week.
Opener nears:
Meanwhile, Coe works day and night to prepare the team for its Aug.30 opener in the inaugural Detroit Classic vs. Florida A+M.
"Right now," Coe said, "I'm sleeping in my office. Both of the assistants I brought in, Jack Bush and Tony Pierce, we're all sleeping in our offices. We've got air mattresses on the floor. We watch film till 12:30 or 1 in the morning, then when we get tired we go to bed."
The players are supposed to be concentrating on football. "I think their minds have been on other things sometimes," Coe said. "As the head coach, I have to stay on my assistants to keep the players focused."
Cole's staff, except for Johnnie Cole and Freeman, remains intact for ASU. Coe said he gave the coaches the opportunity to leave if they thought they would have a problem with loyalty.
Coe said he gave the same option to the players.
"I told them if they needed somebody to talk to before or after practice that my door was always open," he said. "Whatever it takes, we are here for these players.
"A couple of guys have come in and said, `Coach, we're involved in this deal (the lawsuit), but we want you to know we're here to play football and we're behind you. We want to win the SWAC championship.'"
Coe said the players have followed through with that promise on the practice field.
"They've been giving us good effort."
Winning the SWAC title is another matter. The Hornets were picked last in the East Division of the SWAC in the preseason vote of the conference coaches following last season's 2-5 finish in the league, 6-6 overall.
Coe hasn't thrown out everything Cole started. "Basically, we are going to do the same things they have done in the past," said Coe, who was fired from his position as an assistant at the University of Memphis after last season. "I've tweaked and added a few things, but we're keeping the terminology. It's a lot easier for me to learn their system in this short period of time than it would be for them to learn mine.
"A lot of the things they've done I've done, we just called it something else."
ASU will count on two highly touted transfers returning to their hometown, quarterback Tarvaris Jackson from Arkansas and running back Keldrick Williams from the University of Tennessee.
Coe said Jackson and Nick Forston are running 1-2 for the quarterback spot.
"We also feel real good about our running backs situation," Coe said. "We feel really good about Keldrick."
The top four receivers from last year are gone, but tight end Chris Coleman, who made 42 catches, returns.
"The only spots where we need depth are on the offensive and defensive lines," Coe said. "We also don't have a punter right now."
The defensive secondary, should be a strength, he said. Antoine Hill set the school record with 10 interceptions last season, while Erlin Sanders picked off four passes in the last three games.
Senior linebacker Marcus Winn is the team's top returning tackler.
