Some months ago, I penned that it was egotistical and dangerous for Virginia Union athletic director Michael Bailey to take the reigns as the school’s head football coach.
I felt even more heated when it was published that Bailey had applied for the vacant Winston-Salem State athletic director position, just weeks before the start of the football season for the Panthers.
But through all of the obvious and seemingly egotistically-selfish moves made by Bailey in the offseason, he has his Panthers in position to win the CIAA football championship. Everything else is just drama, so it seems.
And I’m sorry that I called it wrong on the wins and losses side of the equation.
Don’t get me wrong; unless your names is Eddie Robinson, Eddie Hurt or Jake Gaither, I don’t think it wise to run a team and a program at the same time. It’s like trying to be a university president and teach a graduate-level course at the same time. Yeah, you can do it, but sometimes, one job makes for more pressing matters that will be to the detriment of your other position.
That doesn’t seem to be the case with Bailey and the Panthers, who rolled over upstart Virginia State last night and if they take one of their last two against Bowie State or Elizabeth City State, will stand a good chance of capturing the CIAA East.
There’s a lot wrong with the university’s approach to this head coaching thing, but Bailey has delivered what Panther alumni and supporters were looking for. They are in the hunt for a title, and have reclaimed bragging rights over State for one more season.
He may not be the right guy for the job, but Bailey is certainly doing the right things at the right time for Panther football to be successful.
