Delaware State Cuts Loose A Man Who Put Hornets Back Together

[superman7515]

Finney: In Lavan, Delaware State cuts loose a man who put Hornets back together (http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20101205/SPORTS08/12050334/1002/SPORTS&theme=SPORTSOPINION)


It is easy to sympathize with Al Lavan, who discovered he was fired as coach of Delaware State's football team on Thursday morning.

That's because Lavan has poured his heart and soul into turning the Hornets into a consistent contender in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference since he took over the football program back in 2004.

In fact, he was originally supposed to be the coach -- the first major hire by then-university president Dr. Allen Sessoms -- who would spearhead the Hornets' move to Division I-A football, where Sessoms harbored dreams of playing the Notre Dames, Floridas and Penn States of the world at a new 30,000-plus seat stadium in Dover.

[DSUrocks07]

Revisionist history: If Sessoms was still at the helm, we would still be moving forward on our eventual move to FBS (increased budget, move to the NEC, competing/winning conference titles, new stadium going up behind Lowe's in Dover) and Lavan would be the perfect man to lead those efforts.

But now we've been in purgatory for three years and the program has regressed to the pre-Lavan days. IMO Lavan should of seen the writing onthe wall and sumbitted his resignation as soon as Sessoms and Costello left. Now he's become the scapegoat for our athletic department's incompetence, by reducing his budget other PR gaffes and questionable decisions, DSU effectively tied his arms behind his back.

Williams and Carter need to figure out objectively where DSU wants to go as a program and get the right man in there who could accomplish their needs. We need to stop chasing what the conference wants to do and do what is best for ourselves.

[BlueHenSinfonian]

I don't know of anyone outside of DSU's administration that took the FBS aspirations seriously. I don't know how much of the Michigan debacle was Lavan's fault - it could be that the decision was forced on him, but taking that game and forcing a conference forfeit was an embarrassment for DSU and for the FCS. Forcing the issue over a regularly scheduled game with UD, and insinuating racism as a cause for UD not wanting to schedule it was another black mark on the program during the Lavan years.

DSU seems to have big dreams, which is fine, but doesn't seem to have any plan or direction to achieve them. One would assume that a forward thinking athletic department would find a way to fill the current small stadium before talking about building a bigger on. Instead of talking about moving to FBS, DSU should find a way to start regularly ending the season with a winning record in the MEAC. Instead of fighting for a game vs. UD that will never be played in Dover, and that will result in a DSU defeat for the foreseeable future, why not try for some home and home games vs. lower to mid-tier regional FCS teams like Towson, VMI, Gardner-Webb, Citadel, Western Carolina, or Presbytarian?

Delaware is big enough for two successful college football programs, DSU just needs to stop talking and start doing if they want to become one.

[WestCoastAggie]

It's painfully obvious that the DSU President and BOT does not want to be competitive beyond success in the MEAC for various reasons that surround Money and Heritage with other HBCU's. They along with many older Alumni do not want to leave the HBCU culture behind.
NO Administrator at Delaware St. is thinking about FBS ball. They are thinking about the pending Legacy Bowl and how to get rid of that Equestarian Team along with finding a cheaper HC that will lead to being a decent MEAC/HBCU team.