Jackson is out. Replaced by a guy the NCAA knows well.
Out.
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Jackson drops out of JSU coach hunt
Former Tennessee State and Alabama State coach L.C. Cole added to short list
By Mark Alexander
[email protected]
Coaching search
Who's In
John McKenzie - Alcorn State
Rick Comegy - Tuskegee
L.C. Cole - Lane
Who's Out
Harold Jackson - Baylor
Jackson State begins the interview stage in its search for its next football coach today as planned.
However, Baylor receivers coach Harold Jackson won't be one of the three coaches interviewed, according to people with knowledge of the search.
Jackson was one of three finalists, along with Tuskegee coach Rick Comegy and Alcorn State assistant John McKenzie. But Jackson withdrew his name from consideration over the weekend. That apparently opened the way for former Tennessee State and Alabama State coach L.C. Cole.
Comegy, whose team plays in Saturday's Pioneer Bowl in Charlotte, and Cole are scheduled to interview with the nine-person search committee today in Jackson. Cole didn't make the original short list but was the first alternate.
McKenzie is scheduled to interview Wednesday.
The search committee is expected to meet at the conclusion of those three interviews and then make a recommendation to JSU president Ronald Mason Jr. by Dec. 2.
Robert Kelly, who is heading the search, wouldn't confirm reports of Jackson pulling his name out of consideration. Kelly even declined to say if the former JSU standout was indeed one of the three finalists .
He also would not comment regarding Cole.
"I didn't give anybody the three names," Kelly said. "I haven't told anybody who is on the short list. So it would be inappropriate for me to make a comment on something like that.
"If someone were to pull their name out, we have a process to deal with that. Before we started the process, we had something drawn up for every conceivable what-if. We're rolling right along. We're still looking at meeting our deadline."
Jackson didn't return repeated phone messages Monday.
Cole is very interested in the job, but he said late Monday afternoon he had not been contacted by anybody on the search committee.
"Trust me, I would welcome a call from them," Cole said. "This is the third time I've applied for the job so that should tell you right there how interested I am in the job."
JSU is looking for a replacement for James Bell, who was fired with three games remaining this past season. Bell went 8-23 in 2 1/2 seasons.
The Tigers finished 2-9 overall and 2-7 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, marking their third straight losing season.
Bell had a three-year salary paying $85,000 per year. JSU's next coach is likely going to make more. How much more is unclear.
SWAC coaches salaries
School Coach Salary
Southern University Pete Richardson $200,000
Grambling State Melvin Spears $150,000
Prairie View Henry Frazier $125,000
Arkansas-Pine Bluff Mo Forte $118,000
Alabama State Charles Coe $115,000
Alabama A&M Anthony Jones $107,000
Texas Southern Steve Wilson $105,000
Jackson State Vacant $85,000
Mississippi Valley State Willie Totten $85,000
Alcorn State Johnny Thomas $75,000
JSU president Ronald Mason Jr. said how much the new coach makes depends a lot on who the new coach is.
Southern University's Pete Richardson is the highest paid coach in the SWAC. He makes $200,000. Alcorn State's, at $75,000 a year, Johnny Thomas is the lowest paid coach in the league.
"Eighty-five is definitely on the low end," Mason said. "We're not going to be Southern University, I can say that. But we would like to be competitive with the other members of the conference.
"There's a lot of variables involved. What is he making at his current position? What kind of coaching experience does he have? Is he making a lateral move? What's it going to take to get him here? What does he need to move him and his family? All those sorts of things play into it."
Mason also said a lot depends on how much private funds are raised to support state funds.
"Its hard for me to go to the extreme with a coach when I have faculty members I'm struggling to pay," Mason said. "My alumni group is making a strong effort to raise private support, but I don't have any money in the bank yet.
"We're going to have to wait and see how it all plays out. We're going to make the best deal we can."
Cole, no doubt, would love to be part of those negotiations. He spent this past season as defensive coordinator at Lane, the same position he held at Concordia (Minn.) the previous season.
"I thought I had the job the first time when (Robert) Hughes got it," Cole said. "Then this last time, Bell got it. I don't know what's going to happen; I was first told that they had their three candidates. It look like I'm in between the crossroads again."
Cole was successful at Tennessee State and Alabama State but trouble followed him at both stops.
Cole won back-to-back Ohio Valley Conference titles at Tennessee State in 1998 and 1999. But the NCAA's Committee on Infractions imposed penalties on the school for nine violations that involved overspending on athletes, recruiting improprieties and a lack of institutional control. The football program was placed on three years probation.
Cole's salary was frozen in June 1999 by the school.
The following year he bolted for Alabama State, where he won a share of the SWAC East title in his first year and won the SWAC East outright in 2001.
He and assistant coach Johnnie Cole were fired prior to the 2003 season after an internal investigation allegedly revealed the coaches played ineligible players and paid for strippers to entertain recruits. A few weeks later, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by 15 Alabama State football players seeking the reinstatement of the Cole brothers.
The NCAA investigation is still ongoing.
"If you're accused of some wrongdoing, there's supposed to be evidence to support that, right?" L.C. Cole said. "It has been nearly three years and nothing has come to pass. I haven't heard anything from them. I got myself into a political situation, that's all."
Comegy, who confirmed he is one of the finalists, finds himself in a different type of quandary. He's in the process of preparing his team for a bowl game while also in the running for the Jackson State job.
"It's something we really haven't talked about with the kids," Comegy said. "They've heard things. But they're very mature about things.
"I want to be the very best I can be for them, that's extremely important to me. "Right now my main focus is on Bowie State. We want to finish 11-1 and win the Pioneer Bowl. Right now its still in the early stages ... we'll see what happens."