'THE TIME WAS RIGHT"
SAYS COMEGY IN MOVE TO D-1 AND NORFOLK STATE
Rick Comegy says he can't really give a reason for his decision to accept
the head coaching job at Norfolk State University when he turned down
a similar offer from Morgan State after the 2001 season.
" It was a gut feeling, I guess," he told INSIDE recently.
" Both of the schools treated me very well."
Comegy, who will replace Norfolk's Mo Forte as the Spartans head coach,
admitted that leaving Tuskegee was a very tough decision. But in conversations
with this writer and others during his tenure at Tuskegee, Comegy made
no small secret of his desire to coach at the Division I level if the
right opportunity presented itself. He also says he will invite members
of his Tuskegee staff to join him in Norfolk if they desire.
Interestingly, Comegy takes over the job at Norfolk who's program is
in much the same spot he found Tuskegee in when he arrived there in
1996. Tuskegee had finished out the previous season at a dismal 2-9.
He improved it slightly in his first year and made steady progress through
2000 when he reached a coach's apex with an undefeated 12-0 season,
an SIAC championship, a bowl win ( Pioneer) and the National Black College
football championship.
This past season , Norfolk finished with a record of 5-6. Comegy comes
aboard as head coach. Can lightning strike twice for Rick? He thinks
so.
The Atlanta based 100% Wrong Club will hold their annual all sports
jamboree in February and a highlight of the weekend is the awarding
of the Jake Gaither Trophy. It has come to represent a Heisman-like
honor for the best football player from an historically black college.
The club generally chooses the winner from among the offensive and
defensive players-of-the-year from each of the four conferences. This
year, the candidates for the "Gaither" are Virginia State
quarterback Kevin Jones and Fayetteville State linebacker Brian Holloway
of the CIAA, Bethune Cookman linebacker Reshean Mathis and Bethune
quarterback Allen Suber from the MEAC, Fort Valley running back Duron
Croson and Morehouse College linebacker John Grant of the SIAC ( Grant,
by the way, was last year's winner) and Grambling quarterback Bruce
Eugene and Alabama A&M defensive end Robert Mathis from the SWAC.
The Gaither Award, though not as old as the Heisman, has caught and
nearly passed it in prominence and impact. Two of the award's recipients,
Richard Dent of Tennessee State and the Chicago Bears(1982) and Mississippi
Valley and Oakland Raider wide out Jerry Rice (1983-84) ended up being
named MVPs of Super Bowls. Other recipients like Jackson State's Louis
Tillman (1988) and Florida A&M and current Pittsburgh Steeler Earl
Holmes (1995) excelled in the NFL.
Of all the awards that the 100% Wrong Club bestows during its jamboree
weekend, the name of the Gaither winner is kept in the strictest of
secrecy. No amount of bribery or threats can pry the winner from any
member. I know. I tried!
The street committee says former Fort Valley Head coach Kent Schoolfield
and recently deposed Benedict head man Tony Felder are in line for
the Tuskegee job.
Tough times for former Clark Atlanta women's basketball coach Angelyne
Brown. In her first year as head coach at Morgan State, the Lady Bears
are 0-8 which is totally unfamiliar territory for Brown who coached
nearly 10 years at CAU, compiled a career record of 151-99 and never
had a losing season. Her fortunes mirror that of Larry Nolley, the
interim head basketball coach at her former employer. CAU's Panthers
are at 0-8 and Nolley chalks it up to youth and inexperience.
