Ram Ramblings: With CIAA media day approaching, season is not too far away

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- It’s a good sign when the CIAA football media day rolls around because that means it’s getting closer to when Winston-Salem State will begin practicing.

The annual media day will be Thursday at a Durham hotel, but unlike Division I schools where coaches know a lot about what they have coming back, it’s more of a crapshoot at Division II schools.

Coach Kienus Boulware of WSSU said as much earlier this week when we met for a lengthy interview at his office. I won’t be attending the media day, but it’s a good bet the CIAA coaches will be very general in their comments about their teams.

Plenty of changes take place at the Division II level between spring practice and the fall. Eligibility issues arise, walk-ons decide not to come back to school or a myriad of other reasons turn rosters upside down before players report in August.

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FAMU RB Hearns has more than football talent

 TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- It didn't take long for West Palm middle school teacher Tim Williams to realize that Gerald Hearns would be a special student, when he walked into his pre-engineering class at Roosevelt magnet school.

Williams saw it in his eyes – inquisitiveness and eagerness.

"The thing I remember about him the most is his drive and his want," Williams said six years after he first met Hearns. "He was eager and ready to work. He was a self-starter. He is driven. I know that personality when I see it."

Hearns is now a freshman running back at FAMU. His teammates who have known him for just a few weeks during volunteer workouts say they see the same thing that Williams saw six years ago – drive and enthusiasm.

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SIAC commissioner: HBCUs left out of college sports talk

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA -- Gregory Moore felt compelled at Monday's SIAC Media Day in Montgomery to address what he feels is an alarming problem.

The league commissioner said historically black colleges and universities haven't been a part of the discussions regarding hot-button issues in intercollegiate athletics that could impact HBCUs.

"I believe the gap between the have and have nots is growing to the point where it's becoming alarming," Moore said. "When you have the average payout at a Power 5 conference school exceeds the top line revenue of all the HBCU conferences combined, that's a problem," Moore said. "That should be discussed. No one is talking about it."

Bernard Franklin, NCAA executive vice president and chief inclusion officer, hosted a meeting Moore attended last week in Atlanta with several presidents, chancellors at conference commissioners of HBCU schools.

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Report: JSU expects to hire Leon Seals as DL coach

JACKSON, Mississippi ;-- Former Jackson State defensive lineman Leon Seals might return to his alma mater.

Footballscoop.com reported Monday that Seals will be the new defensive line coach. A source told The Clarion-Ledger Seals interviewed for the position but nothing was confirmed as of Monday evening.

At last Friday's SWAC media day, Tigers coach Harold Jackson said he already had in mind who he wanted to hire and hoped to have it done by Tuesday.

Seals was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round of the 1987 NFL draft. He earned All-SWAC honors in 1985 and 1986, when JSU finished 8-3, 6-1 SWAC and 9-3, 7-0, respectively.

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Tuskegee hopes to play for SIAC title at Cramton Bowl

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The Golden Tigers missed out on playing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title game, but earned a spot in the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in school history.

"We lost the Miles game and from that point on, everything was over," Tuskegee senior receiver Larry Cobb said. "It was completely done. Then we found out we made the playoffs. We were ecstatic. We got another chance, another opportunity to go out and play."

Looking to make amends, Tuskegee enters this season as favorites to win the SIAC West and play in the Nov. 15 conference championship game as a result of voting by the league's 12 head coaches.

Defending conference champion ...

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SIAC championship game moving to Montgomery in 2014 from Atlanta

ATLANTA, Georgia – In addition to holding its 2014 Football Media Day in Montgomery, Ala., the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference will host its football championship at the Cramton Bowl.

The SIAC formally made the announcement during its football media day and is slated to hold the championship game at the Cramton Bowl for the next three seasons starting in 2014.

"The SIAC football championship game has grown significantly over the years and Montgomery is great fit for our postseason atmosphere. The Cramton Bowl is a spectacular venue as it has held some legendary  games in college football," said SIAC Commissioner Gregory Moore. "We want to thank the City of Montgomery, Mayor Todd Strange, The Central Alabama Sports Commission and Convention & Visitor Bureau, as well as the Chamber of Commerce for embracing and assisting our transition to such a historic venue."

The decision to move the championship was unanimously approved by the SIAC President's Council. It relocates after spending its first three years in Atlanta. The inaugural game was played at Panther Stadium on the campus of Clark Atlanta University in 2011 before moving to Lakewood Stadium the last two seasons.

SIAC President's Council Chair Dr. George T. French added, "It is both exciting and appropriate that the SIAC championship game is relocating to a venue in Alabama which holds such rich history and tradition, very much like the HBCU's represented by the teams that will be playing there."

Cramton Bowl is a 25,000-seat stadium located in Montgomery, Alabama. It opened in 1922 has been home to Major League Baseball spring training, the Turkey Day Classic, 20 games for the University of Alabama, and several high school football games. In June 2014, a new synthetic turf field was installed. Starting in December 2014, the Cramton Bowl will be the location for the Camellia Bowl featuring teams from the Sun Belt Conference and Mid-American Conference.

"We are proud to welcome the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Football Championship Game to the city named by USA as the Best Historic City in the U.S., Montgomery, Alabama," said Mayor Todd Strange. "The Central Alabama Sports Commission and Convention & Visitor Bureau are working hard to insure that the next three championship games at the world class Cramton Bowl and Multiplex are the best and most memorable SIAC history."

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Alabama State, other SWAC football teams get no free pass, must improve APR, commissioner says

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Southwestern Athletic Conference Commissioner Duer Sharp said during Football Media Day last week that conference schools have not been given a free pass when it comes to making progress on theirAcademic Progress Rates.

"It's time," Sharp said at the Birmingham Marriott. "It's been long enough that SWAC's been front page as far as APR and it's time that we step up and do something about it."

The APR is billed as a real-time measurement for all teams and is based on a points-system that rewards athletes for staying academically eligible and staying in school.

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