BCSP Notes . . .
Southern chooses 'Stump' Mitchell as new head football coach
Southern University and A&M
College has offered its head football coaching position to
Lyvonia "Stump" Mitchell, the Assistant
Head Coach/Running Backs coach for the NFL's Washington Redskins.
All of the terms of his contract are yet to be worked out, as the Washington Redskins still have one regular season game remaining, and he is still under contract with the NFL team.
"Stump Mitchell's 21 years in the NFL, 10 as a player and 11 years as a assistant coach, combined with his head coaching experience, will bring a wealth of diverse knowledge to our football program," says Greg LaFleur, Southern's Director of Athletics.
Mitchell's coaching career began in 1991, when he served as an assistant coach on the World League of American Football's San Antonio Riders' staff. He then accepted a position as the head coach at Casa Grande (Ariz.) High School (1991-94), where he led the team to a playoff berth in his second year.
He was the head coach at Morgan State University from 1996 to 1998, compiling a record of 8-24. He originally joined the MSU staff in 1995 as offensive coordinator, earning a promotion to head coach the following year.
He served as the Running Backs Coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 1999-2007. From 2001-07, he coached alongside current Redskins head coach Jim Zorn, who was quarterbacks coach there at the time.
Mitchell played nine years in the NFL as a standout running back with the St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals. He was a ninth-round draft choice by the Cardinals in 1981 and would go on to become one of the great running backs and kick returners in Cardinals history.
Robbins to enter Virginia Sports HOF
Former Virginia Union basketball coach
Dave Robbins will be one of eight inductees in the Class of 2010 of the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Robbins led the Panthers to three Division II national titles and his 713-194 career records spans three decades and makes him the winningest college basketball coach in Virginia history. His record at VUU was 693-175.
Robbins won 12 CIAA championships in his 30 years at the helm and made the Panthers the most dominant team in the conference producing the likes of NBA stars Ben Wallace and Charles Oakley. His national championships came in 1980, 1992 and 2005.
Former Georgetown and NBA basketball star Alonzo Mourning is among eight to be inducted into the Virginia Hall.
"The Class of 2010 brings eight of the most impressive résumés we have ever seen," says Hall of Fame President Eddie Webb. "These individuals exemplify the Commonwealth's diversity in sports from swimming to football, as well as decades of achievement."
Miss. Valley State down to four finalists for head football coaching vacancy
Former South Carolina State and NFL receiving star
Charlie Brown and Mississippi Valley State
product and current Grambling assistant
Sam Washington are among four finalists to replace
Willie Totten as head football coach at Mississippi Valley State
according to a release from the school's athletics department.
Brown and Washington along with North Alabama Defensive Coordinator Karl Morgan and Arkansas Baptist Head Coach Richard Wilson will be on MVSU's campus this week for in-person interviews as well as meetings with athletic and university administration.
All four candidates bring a myriad of playing and professional experience. Brown and Morgan will meet with University personnel on Wednesday (Jan. 6) of this week while Washington and Wilson will meet on Thursday, January 7.
Brown was taken by the Washington Redskins in the eighth round of the 1981 draft and played for the team from 1981-84 and for the Atlanta Falcons from 1985-89. He was a member of the 1982 Redskins team that won the 1982 Super Bowl as well as a two-time Pro Bowl selection (1983 & 1984). He has served as an assistant coach at Charleston Southern, Mississippi Valley State and Benedict. He has also been the head coach of the Myrtle Beach Stingrays of the Professional Indoor Football League; Florence Phantoms of the Arena Football League, Baptist Hill High School and his current position as head coach at Savannah High School.
Morgan has 21 years of coaching experience including stints as defensive line coach at Nicholls State, Southern, Purdue and Arkansas State. He has also served as defensive coordinator at Alcorn State, Hampton and the past nine seasons at the University of North Alabama. At UNA, the team has amassed an 84-26 record and NCAA Division II quarterfinal appearances in 2006, 2007 and 2009 in addition to NCAA Division II semifinalist in 2005 and 2008. He is a former defensive lineman with the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1984-86) and the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1983) of the Canadian Football League.
Washington is a former MVSU standout who has moved on to become one of the sought-after assistant coaches in mid-major football. After playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1982-86, he has been assistant coach at Bethune-Cookman, Johnson C. Smith, North Carolina Central and North Carolina A&T, defensive coordinator at Mississippi Valley State and defensive pass game coordinator at Grambling State.
Wilson brings over 26 years of coaching experience to the search. He has been a coach at El Dorado (Ark) High School, Jacksonville (Ark.) High School and Minneapolis (Minn.) North High School. In the collegiate ranks, he has been a graduate assistant at the University of Missouri and an assistant coach at The Citadel, University of Arkansas, Clemson, assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Eastern Michigan, Oklahoma State and Minnesota and recently a three-year stint as head coach at Arkansas Baptist College.
Each candidate will meet with the search committee, MVSU president Dr. Donna H. Oliver and interim director of athletics Donald Sims and will participate in a forum in which alumni, university personnel and the public will get a chance to interact with the finalists.
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