Rick Comegy leaves Tuskegee for Jackson State
December 8, 2005
TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY, Ala. - Rick Comegy, athletic
director and head football coach at Tuskegee University for the past ten years,
will take on a new position as head football coach at Jackson State University
on January 1.
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Rick Comegy |
The President of Tuskegee University, Dr. Benjamin F. Payton, expresses regret
that Comegy is leaving, but also states his deep appreciation to Comegy for
the decade of excellence and service he has rendered at Tuskegee University.
“When I first interviewed him 10 years ago, I sensed in the course of
our conversation that he was a person of great skill and coaching ability,
who would be a winner,” said President Payton. “I have known him
to be a person of integrity and loyalty, as well as one of the nation’s
outstanding football coaches. I will hope and pray for his continued success
in the future and will always look upon him as a friend of Tuskegee University,” President
Payton further stated.
Under Coach Comegy’s leadership the Tuskegee University football team
has won four SIAC championships, was named National Black College Champions
in 2000 with a 12-0 record, national co-champions with Grambling State University
in 2001 and has played in six Pioneer Bowls — winning four of them. The
2005 season finished with an 11-1 record, which brings his Tuskegee record
to 90-26.
Coach Comegy will be sorely missed, but it must be remembered that Tuskegee
University has a long history as a football power. In fact, Tuskegee has recorded
more wins in football than any other historically black college or university
in the country. The number of wins recorded by Tuskegee stands at 579, a record
that is many games ahead of its nearest competitor. Although Comegy helped
to widen the winning margin as well as to increase the number of wins to the
current record, this distinctive span of victories relative to other HBCUs
was achieved before Coach Comegy arrived. But his extraordinary leadership
served only to enhance and widen the distance between the record of Tuskegee
University and other institutions.
Tuskegee University’s longest tenured coach, Cleve Abbott, has been
named the American Football Coaches Association’s 2005 Trailblazer Award
winner. He will receive this honor posthumously on Jan. 9 in Dallas.
In the meantime, Tuskegee University will press forward with its recruitment
program for next year. “I will be naming a search committee immediately
to find a new person to replace Coach Comegy. The athletic program in the interim
will be under the direction of former athletic director Dr. H. Frank Leftwich,
and the football program will be coordinated during the search by receiver
coach Derrick McCall. I am asking for the full cooperation and support of the
entire Tuskegee University family as we plan for a new era of football with
continued strength and excellence,” President Payton said.
Coach Comegy has stated that “it has been an honor and a daily pleasure
to have had the opportunity to work at Tuskegee University, especially under
an illustrious president such as Dr. Benjamin F. Payton. God only knows what
the football program would have done without his support and blessings. One
would not be human if he did not find it difficult to say goodbye to such loving
people at Tuskegee University and the Tuskegee community; love which sustained
my love for ten years. My memories and friendships made in Tuskegee, I will
keep forever and to all I just want to say thank you for your support.”
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