Saturday, July 21, 2012

Rose, Hampton U. eagerly anticipate challenging season

NORFOLK, Virginia — The term that Donovan Rose repeated to describe himself was that he is now a "full-fledged" head coach.

Yes, it was his name on the door to the big office at Hampton University's football complex for the past three years. Yes, wins and losses during that time were attached to his resume'. And yes, it was his program that got whacked recently by the NCAA for continued academic negligence.

But for Rose, "full-fledged" connotes a combination of experience, tenure, understanding, vision and direction. Four years in, he finally feels equipped to run the Pirates' program and to restore it to the level attained under his former boss, Joe Taylor.

"I've grown up," Rose said Friday at Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference media day. "I realize as a head coach that everything is on me. In doing that, I put all of myself in everything. As a full-fledged head coach, in my fourth year, every recruit has come under me, every coach has come under me and everything else has come under me. With that in mind, I think we've turned the corner."

The Pirates return 17 starters from a ...



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