Samuel's record at New Mexico State made impression

The Aggies ranked high in graduation rates in addition to having two of the school's few recent winning seasons.

Prior to Wednesday, Southeast Missouri State had had two head football coaches since moving up to Division I-AA in 1991.

Both John Mumford and Tim Billings teased local fans with one winning season before they ultimately faltered and were shown the door.

Southeast's 15-year record in Division I-AA is 58-110, with 13 losing seasons, including a 2-9 mark this year that led to Billings' forced resignation. Southeast is 41-70 in Ohio Valley Conference play since joining that league in 1991.

Into this apparent mess steps Tony Samuel, who on Wednesday was introduced as the Redhawks' new coach, which also makes him the university's first black head coach in any sport.

I wrote last week that all three of the finalists for the position -- including a pair of Division II head coaches in Washburn's Craig Schurig and Missouri Western's Jerry Partridge -- certainly appeared qualified to lead the Redhawks.

Southeast ultimately gave the nod to the 50-year-old Samuel, who spent the past season as an assistant at Purdue and no doubt made a big impression on university officials as New Mexico State's head coach from 1997 to 2004.

Samuel took over one of the nation's worst Division I-A programs and breathed serious life into it. His eight-year record was just 34-57, but that doesn't even begin to do justice to what he accomplished at New Mexico State.

In 2002, Samuel led the Aggies to a 7-5 record for their most wins since 1967. New Mexico State has had just four winning seasons in the last 37 years -- and two of them were under Samuel, who ranks as the third-winningest football coach in school history.

As often happens, New Mexico State administrators believed that, although Samuel helped guide the Aggies to respectability, another coach was needed to take the next step. So he was dismissed after going 5-6 in 2004.

This year, the first season after Samuel's departure, the Aggies went 0-12. It remains to be seen if New Mexico State will wind up regretting letting Samuel go.

It too remains to be seen if Samuel -- who also made his mark during 10 seasons as a Nebraska assistant under the legendary Tom Osborne, after playing for the Cornhuskers -- can wind up transforming Southeast into a consistent winner for the first time on the Division I-AA level.

I have no idea whether Samuel -- or anybody -- is capable of turning the Redhawks around. But I applaud the selection, because I believe he was the right choice among the three, given his background.

Samuel, who came across as impressive and classy during his public interview before being hired, apparently believes he has the right plan to get the job done.

Time will tell if he can make it happen.

n

I wrote several weeks ago, before any serious candidates surfaced for the position, that whoever takes over Southeast's football program has a legitimate chance for marked improvement -- and perhaps even a winning record -- in his first year.

I still feel that way, mainly because the Redhawks have basically scheduled two automatic nonconference victories in 2006 with Austin Peay -- which has been nonscholarship Division I-AA -- and a Division II opponent replacing Southern Illinois and Missouri State.

So all it will take is a .500 mark over the eight-game schedule in the mediocre OVC to finish 6-5 (I'm assuming a loss at Division I-A Arkansas).

That doesn't seem like an insurmountable task, especially since Southeast should return a decent amount of talent, although a late recruiting start likely won't help.

And no doubt making things tougher on Samuel in his first season is the fact the university recently dismissed from school -- pending potential appeals -- the four players who have been charged with assault in the highly publicized fraternity party fight that injured two Southeast students.

Among the four were two of the Redhawks' top players from the 2005 season in freshman tailback Tim Holloman and junior safety D'Eldrick Taylor.

I'm really surprised the four were booted before the case was resolved one way or the other by the legal system. If any or all of the four end up being found innocent, then that will surely be a black mark against Southeast.

But getting back to the prospects for 2006, no matter what kind of record the Redhawks put together, Samuel's true, consistent impact on the program probably won't be determined for a few years.

n

According to the NCAA News, a publication of the NCAA, Samuel becomes just the third current ethnic minority head football coach in Division I-AA, excluding historically black colleges and universities.

I agree with what Samuel said at his introductory news conference -- which I unfortunately missed because I was on a basketball road trip in Alabama -- about looking forward to the day when that isn't news anymore.

Still, I've got to believe Samuel's skin color will be some type of an advantage when he's recruiting top-level black athletes.

Also not hurting his cause will be the fact he coached so many All-Americans and future NFL players while an assistant at Nebraska.

And don't forget about his stellar academic record as a head coach, with the 2003 NCAA graduation report ranking New Mexico State tied for 13th in graduation rates among Division I-A football programs at 76 percent. Parents of prospective recruits have got to love that.

In short, Samuel is a guy I think any talented athlete with the skills to compete at a high level of football -- whether he be black, white, green, red or purple -- would love to play for.

n

Southeast's struggling men's basketball team might not like what happens next, but the Redhawks will at least receive some national publicity -- be it good or bad.

The Redhawks, reeling after suffering three straight OVC losses to fall into 10th place in the 11-team league, play at powerful Illinois on Wednesday night in a game nationally televised on ESPNU.

Illinois was supposed to be good but not great this season after losing two first-round NBA draft picks from last year's national runner-up squad.

But the Illini have so far exceeded all expectations, roaring to a 12-0 start and climbing to a No. 6 ranking.

Coming off Wednesday's 82-50 pounding of Missouri, the Illini will look to keep the ball rolling against the Redhawks.

Even if the Redhawks are routed, as most people expect, at least they'll make the Southeast athletic department $55,000 richer, which is what Illinois is paying for the anticipated blowout.

And who knows, if the Redhawks can somehow make the Illini sweat at least a little bit --it's hard to imagine an actual upset -- then maybe they'll receive some favorable reviews on SportsCenter.

n

As usual, I'm really looking forward to the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament that begins Monday at the Show Me Center.

Not only is it fun to watch the 16 area boys basketball teams in action, it's also neat to see a lot of people that I might only run into during this one week.

Marty Mishow is a sports writer for the Southeast Missourian.