With 2009 freshly arrived, the number one question in all of black college football remains unanswered.
Who will be the head coach of the North Carolina A&T football team?
The Aggie faithful know who they want. Henry Frazier III, the black college football prodigy who has had successful stops at Bowie State and Prairie View A&M, is the object of their affection. But rumors have circulated that Frazier has turned down the job, and in his place, there have only been whispers of black college football coaching luminaries.
Among those rumored to be in the running is Morgan State defensive coordinator Alonzo Lee, the individual responsible for the top-ranked Bears defensive unit in 2008 and similarly-talented units in previous stops at Hampton, FAMU, North Carolina A&T and Howard. Also among the proposed candidates is current interim head coach George Ragsdale, and another out-of-conference mystery coach.
And this is the problem with the A&T coaching search. There is no transparency about prospects for the job, which likely means there will be significant deficiencies in recruiting, marketing and other aspects of program building.
At what point will Lee, Ragsdale, or the mystery candidate have an inclination about when they can evaluate current players for retention? At what point do they establish groundwork for recruiting? Perhaps that is what Ragsdale has been occupied with since the off-season began, but if the final decision is someone other than him, that work is for naught and the new guy is on the clock with very little time to work magic.
And when does the outreach begin between the program and its stakeholders? Perhaps A&T football is powerful enough a brand that the money and recognition will come in without the influence of the head coach, but it wouldn’t hurt to get the new guy in a position for fundraising initiatives and media appearances sooner than later.
No one can knock the influence or history of Aggie football, but the last four years haven’t been the kindest to the program. If for no other reason that satisfying the curiosity of the people who help fund the athletic program, it would be nice for stakeholders to be in the loop about the future of the A&T football program.
Hiring restrictions aside, it would do fans and the supporting community some good to know that the A&T administration cares to take a more-than secretive approach to rebuilding a program that is in not-so-secret turmoil.
