Coleman In As Coach At Arkansas-Pine Bluff

It appears the administration at UAPB wasted no time in finding a replacement for Mo Forte who was fired on Monday.

Defensive coordinator Monte Coleman was named the new head coach the very same day as reported by the Pine Bluff Commercial.

PINE BLUFF, Ark. – Former Washington Redskins linebacker Monte Coleman was introduced as the new football coach at Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday, the same day Mo Forte was fired.

Coleman played for the Redskins from 1979-94, winning three Super Bowls. The Pine Bluff native, who played college football at Central Arkansas, had been the Golden Lions’ defensive coordinator the last two seasons.

“This ranks among the Super Bowls,” the 50-year-old Coleman said after his hiring was announced. “Some of the games that I’ve played, the Super Bowls that we were able to play in with the Redskins, this has to rank among those.”

Athletic director Skip Perkins said the school and Coleman were working out the details of a five-year contract. He said Coleman’s impressive credentials meant there was no need for a protracted coaching search.

“Continuity was important to me, and we could have gone outside and looked for this person or that person, but why look that far if you’ve got somebody in your back yard?” said Perkins, who took over as UAPB’s athletic director this year. “He was right here. He was a wonderful, wonderful candidate, so there was no need in going through all that process.”

I hope the hiring of Coleman was worth the sacrifice of eliminating an assistant coaching position on the football staff to pay for Forte’s final contract year. Only time will tell.