Tuskegee Picked to Repeat as SIAC Football Champions
July 28, 2003
TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY, AL— America’s
Winningest HBCU Football Team is expected to continue its winning
ways in the 2003 season, according to the head coaches of the
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
2003 Predicted
Order of Finish
(Coaches Selection)
(1st Place Votes)
1. Tuskegee (5)
2. Albany State (2)
3. Fort Valley
4. Morehouse (1)
5. Miles
6. Kentucky State
7. Benedict
8. Clark Atlanta
9. Lane (1)
The Golden Tigers of Tuskegee University garnered nine of
the coveted thirteen first place votes predicting the winner
of the Conference title – a title that has been at ‘home’ in
Tuskegee for four of the last five seasons.
The announcement came during the 2003 Football Kickoff Luncheon
and Press Conference Friday, July 25, in Norcross, Ga. Nearly
200 SIAC personnel, game officials, coaches, athletic administrators,
and sports information directors of the SIAC were on hand for
the annual event.
Noting that 15 starters will be back this season, Tuskegee
Head Coach and Athletic Director Rick Comegy expects “the
new guys to make it happen for us.”
Ten of Comegy’s returning stars were named to the Pre-Season
All-SIAC Football team, including Street and Smith magazine’s
2003 HBCU All-America team running back Cortlandt Florence.
Comegy, who is two wins away from becoming Tuskegee’s
second all-time winningest football coach, has led his team
to a 33-2 record in the 21st century, the best winning percentage
of any college or university in the state of Alabama.
Likewise, his impressive 64-17 record in eight seasons at
Tuskegee has included boosting three defensive backs to the
pros with multi-million-dollar contracts: the Chicago Bears’ Roosevelt
Williams in 2001, the New York Giants’ Frank Walker and
the San Diego Chargers’ and Tuskegee’s highest-ever
draft choice Drayton Florence in 2002.
Drayton’s cousin, Cortlandt, a pre-season All-American,
was selected to Don Hansen’s Football Gazette 2003 Pre-Season
All-America Team. He was also named to the All-SIAC Second
Team along with quarterback Terrence Jones, defensive lineman
Dwayne Parker, linebacker Nathaniel Jones and cornerback David
Musa.
Wide receivers Samuel Brown, offensive lineman Bruce Lawrence,
place-kicker Travis Gumbs, free safety Tommie George and cornerback
Carlos Leggins were named to the All-SIAC First Team.
In addition to the capacity crowds at the Golden Tiger Den – the
Cleve L. Abbott Alumni Bowl on campus – the 10 players-to-watch
will showcase their talents before a national audience in the
upcoming year.
The Golden Tigers are planning to claw through the Golden
Bears of Miles College on Major Broadcasting Cable Company
network Aug. 31 at the A.G. Gaston Labor Day Classic in Birmingham.
The network will also showcase the “rumble in the jungle” the
following week in Columbia, S.C., as the Golden Tigers pounce
the Tigers of Benedict College.
Should coaches’ predictions hold true, MBC will broadcast
the Golden Tigers’ competition with the Central Intercollegiate
Athletic Association champions Dec. 20 at the Pioneer Bowl
at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
