Post by Aggie One on Nov 4, 2005 14:06:20 GMT -5
The Beginning of the End?
by Craig R. Turner
bluedeathvalley.com
"We want to see how the rest of the season plays out," said Todd, who assumed her job June 15."We've got two games to go. He's our coach right now, and we stand behind him. You can't walk around here without your ear being bent by one thing or another. I believe we need to support our coach throughout this season and evaluate the status after the season is over with.” – Dee Todd, A&T Athletic Director.
Well the question that everyone has raised in private was finally asked in public this week by the news media at A&T’s weekly press conference. What is the future of George Small as head football coach? We should know that answer in short order in about three weeks.
Chancellor James Renick has made it clear that Dee Todd runs the athletic department, lock, stock, and barrel and she will make the final determination as to whether the A&T will exercise its option to renew Small’s contract or release him at the end of the season to pursue a new coach.
It’s really a catch 22 situation for Todd who will be making her first huge decision of her brief tenure as athletic director.
Should she take notice that Small won an MEAC championship his first year out, but had to sputter through an injury riddled season a year ago, a circumstance beyond his control? Or will she put more weight on the here and now that his team has failed miserably this year with inconsistent defense and nonexistent offense for most in not all of the season?
Does she take the risk to retain him with the expectation that next season will have dramatic improvement on the field with another year of recruiting, staff adjustments, and fine tuning? Or does she decide to cut her losses and decide to find new leadership with a totally different system and approach?
The wheels of discourse have been turning for quite some time and this scenario really began after the early season losses to NCCU and Elon and Hampton. Things moderately backed off after back to back wins over Tennessee State and Morgan on the road.
But then came the firing of offensive coordinator Ken Schoolfield at mid season, followed by a dismal homecoming performance against Delaware State, a pitiful shutout at Howard, and last weekend’s embarrassing 54-17 nationally televised butt stomping at the hands of Alvin Wyatt and the Bethune Cookman Wildcats. Now the calls for Small’s ouster are reaching a crescendo and for a complete changing of the guard.
Jackson State pulled the trigger earlier this week on James Bell by summarily dismissing him with two games remaining. From the very mouth of their chancellor came the word that enough was enough.
Their fan base had basically deserted them. They have lost over $500,000 in gate receipts over the last two years. Games in Jackson, Mississippi used to routinely draw 40-50,000 fans. Now they can barely break the 6,000 mark in a 60,000 seat facility.
Players became disenfranchised with Bell’s style, both on and off the field. And finally he took one of the finest quarterbacks in 1-AA football in Robert Kent and turned him into a meaningless foot note in the JSU’s record book in just two seasons.
A&T has chosen to wait until the end of the season to make its final judgment. Now none of what has gone on at Jackson State has transpired here as of yet and no one expects it to. But it does make you wonder if that scene could play out here and just how far away from it will A&T be with six home games on the schedule for next season which could be either a record attendance year or a record year of revenue loss.
The weight of the evidence swings both ways so the question has to be who will be the best person to lead the football program to the desired level that both the alumni and the administration envision over the next half decade.
Yep, Dee’s plate is going to be full the next few weeks with some hard decisions to be made and so far she has not shown any problems about making them or even making the right ones.
I don’t think she will have any problem with this one either.
PREDICTION:
FAMU 21
A&T 18
by Craig R. Turner
bluedeathvalley.com
"We want to see how the rest of the season plays out," said Todd, who assumed her job June 15."We've got two games to go. He's our coach right now, and we stand behind him. You can't walk around here without your ear being bent by one thing or another. I believe we need to support our coach throughout this season and evaluate the status after the season is over with.” – Dee Todd, A&T Athletic Director.
Well the question that everyone has raised in private was finally asked in public this week by the news media at A&T’s weekly press conference. What is the future of George Small as head football coach? We should know that answer in short order in about three weeks.
Chancellor James Renick has made it clear that Dee Todd runs the athletic department, lock, stock, and barrel and she will make the final determination as to whether the A&T will exercise its option to renew Small’s contract or release him at the end of the season to pursue a new coach.
It’s really a catch 22 situation for Todd who will be making her first huge decision of her brief tenure as athletic director.
Should she take notice that Small won an MEAC championship his first year out, but had to sputter through an injury riddled season a year ago, a circumstance beyond his control? Or will she put more weight on the here and now that his team has failed miserably this year with inconsistent defense and nonexistent offense for most in not all of the season?
Does she take the risk to retain him with the expectation that next season will have dramatic improvement on the field with another year of recruiting, staff adjustments, and fine tuning? Or does she decide to cut her losses and decide to find new leadership with a totally different system and approach?
The wheels of discourse have been turning for quite some time and this scenario really began after the early season losses to NCCU and Elon and Hampton. Things moderately backed off after back to back wins over Tennessee State and Morgan on the road.
But then came the firing of offensive coordinator Ken Schoolfield at mid season, followed by a dismal homecoming performance against Delaware State, a pitiful shutout at Howard, and last weekend’s embarrassing 54-17 nationally televised butt stomping at the hands of Alvin Wyatt and the Bethune Cookman Wildcats. Now the calls for Small’s ouster are reaching a crescendo and for a complete changing of the guard.
Jackson State pulled the trigger earlier this week on James Bell by summarily dismissing him with two games remaining. From the very mouth of their chancellor came the word that enough was enough.
Their fan base had basically deserted them. They have lost over $500,000 in gate receipts over the last two years. Games in Jackson, Mississippi used to routinely draw 40-50,000 fans. Now they can barely break the 6,000 mark in a 60,000 seat facility.
Players became disenfranchised with Bell’s style, both on and off the field. And finally he took one of the finest quarterbacks in 1-AA football in Robert Kent and turned him into a meaningless foot note in the JSU’s record book in just two seasons.
A&T has chosen to wait until the end of the season to make its final judgment. Now none of what has gone on at Jackson State has transpired here as of yet and no one expects it to. But it does make you wonder if that scene could play out here and just how far away from it will A&T be with six home games on the schedule for next season which could be either a record attendance year or a record year of revenue loss.
The weight of the evidence swings both ways so the question has to be who will be the best person to lead the football program to the desired level that both the alumni and the administration envision over the next half decade.
Yep, Dee’s plate is going to be full the next few weeks with some hard decisions to be made and so far she has not shown any problems about making them or even making the right ones.
I don’t think she will have any problem with this one either.
PREDICTION:
FAMU 21
A&T 18
