UAPB recruits impressed with staff
By Nate Olson
OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Arkansas-Pine Bluff interim coach Marty Steward and his staff appear to be making an impact on the recruiting trail.
When UAPB Coach Lee Hardman resigned after 11 years in December, UAPB athletic director Craig Curry appointed Steward, a defensive coordinator, as the interim head coach. He instructed Steward and the staff to recruit players until a replacement was hired.
At least two recruits said if either Steward or Willie Fulton, a current UAPB defensive back coach, are not hired they will scratch UAPB from their list of college choices. Steward, Fulton and former Norfolk State Coach Maurice "Mo" Forte are the candidates as of now. Forte was interviewed over the weekend and Curry said one other candidate will be interviewed as well.
"I think I would (write UAPB off)," said Little Rock McClellan All-State linebacker Boyce Mitchell Saturday night, while on a recruiting visit at UAPB. "I can't come and play for someone if I don't know you. All the way through junior high and high school I knew my coaches and they knew me. It was almost like a father and son."
Freddy Fairchild, an All-State linebacker from state champion Little Rock Central, agreed.
"It's like going to visit somebody's house, but you don't know who stays there," said Fairchild, who will also visit Arkansas, Arkansas State, Harding and Central Arkansas. "It's pretty hard to make a decision when you don't know the coach. I also can't afford to wait. I need to make my decision up.
Fairchild said he has been impressed with the current UAPB staff and their sincerity.
"I had a chance to meet Coach Steward, and he is pretty cool guy. I hope he gets the job. I think I will fit in real well (at UAPB). He knows me real well, and I think it would feel pretty different playing for a coach that hasn't seen his recruits.
Mitchell said he likes UAPB and its current staff because they have made him feel comfortable. Mitchell is concerned that another coach may not be as welcoming as Steward and Co.
"The reason I decided to choose UAPB as one of my visits is because it is close to home," said Mitchell, who will also visit Tennessee State, Mississippi Valley State, Ole Miss, Southern and Arkansas. "There is more of a family issue here. Coach Steward and the other coaches stress the word 'love.' I don't want to go to another school where I am just known as number.
"(At UAPB) they have shook my hand, and I shook there hand and we have talked one-on-one. They have gotten to know me. They all feel that I have the physical capability to play on the next level."
Steward and Fulton will be interviewed for the job on Friday. A decision could come the following week.
Current players support Steward, Fulton
UAPB junior cornerback Keith Scott, a Watson Chapel alum, said the consensus of current players is that they want to see former UAPB assistants Marty Steward or Willie Fulton hired to take over the Golden Lion program.
"We are antsy to see if the athletic director is going to name Coach (Marty) Steward or Coach (Willie) Fulton or someone else as the head coach," Scott said. "It's like this: We want to play for Steward or Fulton, but if we play for someone else we are going to give him our all. If we don't get one of those two it would be all right, but we would like one of them.
"I'm not trying to knock anyone else and what they are doing, but Steward and Fulton know us and they know the recruits."
Scott said that because signing day is just over two weeks away, hiring Steward or Fulton would seem to make the most sense, since they are already familiar with the current crop of recruits.
Norfolk State administration stands by decision
In an article published on the UAPB website, the school's athletic director, Craig Curry, said he talked with officials at Norfolk State, and they indicated that former NSU head coach Maurice "Mo" Forte was ushered out too quickly. Forte is one of four candidates vying for the UAPB head coach job.
"I spoke with a representative of the president (at Norfolk St.) and quite frankly, they admitted they let him go too soon," Curry told the website. "They were in a hurry to win, and if he would've stuck around for his last year, they would have had a winning season."
However, NSU associate athletic director Craig Cotton said the school stands by its decision not renew Forte's four-year deal after he finished his career there with a 15-29 record that did not include a winning season.
"We have someone else in here now that is going to build on the progress Mo started and take us even further," Cotton said. "I will just say that Mo took us to a certain level."
Cotton said after Forte's third year, hopes were high that the fourth year would produce a winning record but when Forte was unsuccessful the school decided to go another direction.
"His third season he went 5-6 and finished strong," Cotton said. "We went into the fourth season with an open mindset. I don't think it was a pre-determined situation."
Forte was fired at North Carolina A&T after putting together a 27-36-1 record from 1982 to 87.
Forte did win a MEAC Championship at A&T and was the conference coach of the year.
"It doesn't surprise me that he is being considered (for the UAPB job)," Cotton said. "He had a positive impact on our program. He has vast experience at the college level. He has been successful and won a championship. I am not at all surprised to see him as a possible candidate."
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