LITTLE ROCK — Not long after Arkansas-Pine Bluff ’s comeback had been completed and the Golden Lions had celebrated their first Southwestern Athletic Conference championship, Monte Coleman was already making proclamations for the future.
Sitting inside an interview room at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., Coleman, UAPB’s fifth-year coach, talked about dynasties and how he didn’t want Saturday’s scene to be a one-time thing for the Golden Lions.
“This is one,” Coleman said after UAPB’s 24-21 overtime victory over Jackson Statein Saturday’s SWAC Championship Game. “We’re not here to win one SWAC championship. We’re here to create a dynasty and to win multiple SWAC championships.”
UAPB twice rallied from a two-touchdown deficit to beat Jackson State, capping the best season in school history in Coleman’s fifth season since being promoted from defensive coordinator.
The first step to continuing that success is making sure the coach who led them to Saturday’s conference championship sticks around.
Coleman, a Pine Bluff native, signed a five-year contract in 2007 that expires Dec. 31. He joined the staff as an assistant in 2003 before taking over as head coach in 2008, and he has said since before the season started that he wanted to remain UAPB’s coach. He and Athletic Director Lonza Hardy agreed to discuss his contract after the season following a Nov. 3 victory over Texas Southern that clinched the SWAC Western Division title.
Hardy categorized recent talks with Coleman about his contract as “informal” Thursday, but he said both hope to have a signed deal done by the end of next week.
“Monte is aware of the fact that our intentions are to keep him here and hopefully be able to put a package on the table that he will be pleased with,” Hardy said. “We’re pleased with the progress he has made. We expect the program to grow and blossom, and we think he can take us where we want to go.”
The contract Coleman signed in 2007 was for five years and called for him to be paid $120,000 in each of the last two seasons. It also called for a 10 percent salary increase if UAPB won the SWAC Western Division, an 8 percent boost if his team finished with an .800 winning percentage or above - UAPB was 10-2 this season - and a 3 percent increase if he were named SWAC Coach of the Year.
Those incentives would bump Coleman’s salary to $145,200, but Hardy said the two haven’t discussed if his next deal would include similar terms.
“That’s still up in the air,” Hardy said.
Coleman, 55, has a lot on his side when it comes to negotiations.
Not only did UAPB win its first conference title last week and cap its first 10-victory season, but Wednesday it finished the highest it ever has in the Sheridan Broadcasting Network Black College Football poll. UAPB finished No. 2, behind Winston-Salem State, which is 14-0 and will play Valdosta State on Saturday for the NCAA Division II national title.
The team that tops the final Sheridan poll is commonly referred to as the “Black College National Champion.”
Hardy is also hoping the SWAC title can widen a revenue stream with local donors and alumni, a constant focus for a school that operates with a $1.7 million football budget, which is seventh in the 10-member SWAC.
“Whenever you win a championship, even in a stressed economy like we’re living in, it opens more doors for you,” Hardy said. “Everybody wants to be associated with a winner.”
UAPB will lose six starters on offense and five on defense next season, but first-team All-SWAC quarterback Ben Anderson, leading rusher Justin Billings and leading receiver Ledarius Eckwood will be among the returning starters.
Second-team All-SWAC linebacker Jer-Ryan Harris and first-team All-SWAC kicker Tyler Strickland also will return.
“UAPB is on the map,” Coleman said. “With the right players, we will be back.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 12/14/2012