Four days into preseason camp, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff football team announced the addition of three assistant coaches to Doc Gamble's first staff.
Former South Alabama assistants Larry Warner and Joshua Jones will coach running backs and safeties, and former Lake Erie College (Ohio) assistant head coach Bill Nickell will take over the offensive line.
Warner's hire is key for a running back corps that for now will operate by committee following the graduation of back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher Taeyler Porter, but Gamble wants to see if another go-to back can emerge. The Golden Lions are missing former Dollarway standout Keshawn Williams, who would have been a redshirt senior this spring, due to an unspecified injury, but will bring back Watson Chapel graduate and redshirt sophomore Omar Allen in the backfield.
"We've got a good talented crew, but Omar is the most experienced guy right now," Gamble said before the start of camp. "He's very smart. You get a Kylan Herrera who transferred in a year ago, and you have to see what he can do."
Gamble also recruited fellow Cincinnati native and former Bearcats commit Daniel Ingram to UAPB's backfield.
Nickell brings experience as an interim head coach and run coordinator. He will help the offensive line make way for potentially another strong rushing attack after spending last season at Lake Erie.
Before 2020, Nickell spent the previous five years at Lock Haven (Pa.) University as offensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Nickell was interim head coach at one point at Lock Haven.
His experience also includes coaching the o-line and tight ends at Kent State in 2014 and going from o-line coach all the way to associate head coach at alma mater Urbana (Ohio) University, where he was a two-time All-America performer.
Warner was the running backs coach and worked with kick returners at South Alabama the past three seasons. A former All-America running back at Southern Illinois in the late 2000s, Warner began his coaching career there and spent the previous two years in the same capacity at Central Arkansas.
A former Division II All-American at Harding, Jones has followed Warner from Conway to Mobile and now to Pine Bluff. Jones began his coaching career at Arkansas Tech as a graduate assistant, then went to Missouri Western, Troy and Henderson State before joining Warner at UCA.
The Southwestern Athletic Conference postponed its 2020 football season to this spring semester due to the coronavirus pandemic, as other FCS conferences followed suit. UAPB begins a six-game season Feb. 27 at home against Texas Southern.
BOXTOROW HONORS
Three UAPB football players were named to the BOXTOROW HBCU Spring Football Preseason All-America team.
Left tackle Mark Evans II, wide receiver Harry Ballard III and return specialist Tyrin Ralph received the honors from the radio program "From the Press Box to Press Row." They also received All-SWAC Preseason First Team accolades in January.
Evans, of Houston, helped the offense total 446.9 yards per game and score 30 or more points seven times during the 2019 season.