SCSU to Name Jeffries' Successor at Tuesday Press Conference

Orangeburg, SC - South Carolina State plans to announce the successor to retiring head football coach Willie Jeffries on Tuesday (Dec. 11). The new coach will be introduced at an 11 a.m. press conference at the Kirkland W. Student Center on the campus, according to Bulldog athletics director, Dr. Timothy Autry.

Autry said the three finalists for the position are Daryl McNeill, a former Bulldog player and assistant coach, and offensive coordinator for S.C. State the past three seasons; Buddy Pough, an assistant at the University of South Carolina and also a former player and coach at the Orangeburg institution; and Rick Comegy, athletics director and head coach at Tuskegee (Ala.).

The three finalists came from a list of six candidates that were interviewed for the position, according to Autry. The other three candidates who were interviewed were Barney Chavous, a former All-American at SCSU, who went on to a stellar career with the Denver Broncos as a player and coach; Lawrence “L.C.” Cole, head coach at Alabama State; and Ben Blacknall, head coach at Delaware State and a former assistant at S.C. State.

Jeffries retired at the end of the current season after nineteen years - during two stints - as head coach for S.C. State. The Union native and SCSU graduate also served as head coach at Wichita State (1979-83), where he made history by becoming the first African-American to be a head coach at a Division I university, and Howard (1984-88).

Jeffries’ 2001 team won its last five games for a 6-5 record, the first winning season for the Bulldogs since 1997.

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