Alcorn State should just go ahead and name Todd McDaniel head coach this very second.
It would be painless. It would be simple. More importantly, McDaniel has already spent enough time as the not so real head coach since the school fired Melvin Spears in February.
Removing the not so tag ends what has turned out to be a long, painstaking journey that has been exceeding confusing by the redacted statement.
If not McDaniel, move on to the next on the list. Still not sure? Eeny, meeny, miny, moe would help in case indecision arises. Just pick someone already.
ASU’s president Dr. M. Christopher Brown II said in an interview Wednesday no timetable had been set to name a coach, and no pending football activities are expected to take place until fall practice. That’s right, August. Just weeks before the regular season commences.
Speaking of commencement (spring graduation ceremonies) that was when the school was supposed to reveal to Braves nation who the new guy was.
This is the press release to prove it.
Alcorn State University is thoroughly reviewing the candidates’ application packets and the interview committee’s final reports. (The announcement) will now occur during Commencement week (May 7-11, 2012).
There was no announcement during the scheduled time frame just as there was no announcement after the April 28 spring game as the school initially said.
It was reported 10 days ago athletic director Patrick Simon was out of town during commencement week, and when he returned would meet with members of the search committee.
Huh?
How can the AD, the most important university official next to the president, be out of town when it was expected the football coach was to be named? No explanation was given as to why Simon’s absence played a role in this sort of important announcement delay.
Perceived shilly-shally or ineptitude is not a good look, considering Alcorn has thrown around lines such as “Knowing the seriousness of the search process” and “Given the significance of the head football coach hire” throughout this ordeal.
If finding the next head coach is of utmost importance, why doesn’t there seem to be a sense of urgency in the selection process?
Candidates who interviewed for the position are now reduced to waiting God knows how long like the rest of us for answers. And if you are McDaniel, Fredrick Farrier, Jay Hopson or Michael Armour, is this job worth it at this point? Does it benefit your career to accept a gig at a school having all sorts of trouble concluding this otherwise routine task?
Judging by how the powers that be at Alcorn have handled the search, it’s been an exercise in arduousness.