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Stillman Names L.C. Cole Head Football Coach
December 3, 2008
(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) - Lawrence "L.C." Cole has been hired as the new head football coach at Stillman, effective Dec. 4. Cole comes to Stillman from Texas Southern, where he served as defensive coordinator and assistant head football coach this past season. He is Stillman's third head coach since the College reinstated football in 1999.
"It's a great opportunity for me to come back to the state of Alabama and to coach at Stillman," said Cole, who has coached high school and college teams in Montgomery. "Stillman is known for its competitiveness. I look forward to getting Stillman back into that winning spirit. I plan to start recruiting right way to get the program on a winning track."
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Cole has 26 years of collegiate coaching experience, including seven years as a head coach at Tennessee State and Alabama State, both NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision schools. He was selected from more than 40 applicants and recommended to Stillman athletic director Curtis Campbell by a three-person search committee.
"We hired the best coach available," Campbell said. "We are excited about bringing Coach Cole to Stillman. His experience separated him from the pack.
"Among the applicants for this position were current head coaches and other good candidates, but the committee unanimously recommended Cole. That speaks to his caliber of coaching and his ability to turn programs around."
Cole will start recruiting immediately with a focus on players in Alabama high schools. Reviewing game film and evaluating the players to determine weak areas are also top priorities.
Cole has an overall record of 48-31 in seven years as a collegiate head coach. He began his career at Tennessee State in 1996, taking a team that won just two games the year before he arrived and getting them into the postseason in just his third year. During his last two seasons at TSU, Cole led the Tigers to a 20-4 mark and two Ohio Valley Conference titles. He ended his tenure by winning his final 19 regular season contests and averaged more than 40 points per game during that span.
In 2000, Cole took an Alabama State team that had won just two games in 1999 and led it to a winning record. By 2001, the Hornets played in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game. Cole has also held assistant coaching positions at Cincinnati, Eastern Michigan, Morgan State, Toledo, Wisconsin, Kansas State, Ball State, and New Mexico State.
Prior to his position at Texas Southern, Cole spent two years as head coach and athletic director at Sidney Lanier High School. Before Cole arrived at Lanier in 2006, the Poets had not been to the playoffs in six years and had won only two games the previous season. While there, Cole led the team to the playoffs both years and the team advanced to the state quarterfinals in 2006.
His honors include being selected as defensive coordinator for the Alabama/Mississippi High School All-Star Game in 2007, Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999, GTE Regional Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999, Rutherford Spirit Award-Coach of the Year in 1998 and 1999, American Football Coach's Division 1-AA National Coach of the Year in 1999, Street and Smith's Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year in 1999, and TeamLink.Com's Division 1-AA Coach of the Year in 1999.
Cole played professionally with the New York Jets in 1980 and had internship experience with the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers.
He has a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Nebraska, where he played football. While there, he was team captain and an Honorable Mention selection on the All-Big 8 team.
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