Forte Named New Arkansas-Pine Bluff Football Coach
January 27, 2004
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Maurice “Mo” Forte, a former collegiate
head coach and an assistant coach in the National Football League, has been
named the new head football coach at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff,
according to UAPB Athletic Director Craig Curry.
Forte replaces longtime coach Lee Hardman, who resigned last December after
11 seasons as head coach. Forte has served as head coach at North Carolina
A&T University and Norfolk State University.
Despite guiding the Spartans to back-to-back 5-6 seasons (2001-2002), Forte
was released after the 2002 season. He compiled an overall record of 15-29
during his four-year tenure at Norfolk State.
Before Forte’s coaching stint at Norfolk, he was an assistant in the
NFL, coaching running backs and wide receivers for the Denver Broncos (1988-94)
and the Detroit Lions (1995-96). While Forte was on the Broncos’ staff,
Denver played in Super Bowl XXIV in 1989.
Forte, a native of Hannibal, Missouri, got his initial head coaching job at
North Carolina A&T in 1982 and guided A&T to a Mid-Eastern Athletic
Conference (MEAC) Championship in 1986. Following the 1987 season at A&T
where he compiled a 27-36-1 record, Forte resigned to become an assistant in
the professional ranks.
Forte began his collegiate coaching career in 1970 when he served as a backfield
and wide receivers coach at the University of Minnesota where he starred for
the Golden Gophers as a fullback.
He also has served as an assistant coach at Arizona State, Duke and Michigan
State where he coached receivers and tight ends. At Michigan State, Forte helped
the Spartans win the Big 10 Championship in 1978. During his tenure at Arizona
State, three receivers were drafted into the NFL.
“We looked over the other candidates, but in the end, Forte’s
experience gave him the advantage,” Curry said. “He’s not
only won a MEAC championship, but he’s also won a Big 10 championship.
He’s coached at Duke, so he’s been in a program that’s highly
academic-oriented. So, he’s definitely for students making sure that
they have a life after athletics.”
