LUT WILLIAMS BCSP Editor
ATLANTA, GA — Perhaps the top story at last Wednesday’s 2022 SIAC Media Day at the College Football Hall of Fame was the crop of new head coaches that will grace the sidelines this season.
Seven new head men were among the coaches that made their way to the stage in downtown Atlanta to be interviewed by host James Verett after sitting down with the various media outlets in attendance.
That likely overshadowed the fact that the conference has not named a replacement for longtime Commissioner Greg Moore, who announced in late May that he was stepping down after nearly 14 years leading the conference. Nonetheless, the day went smoothly with Associate Commissioner for Communications Tyler Williams deftly handling the proceedings.
Additionally this season, big news is that both Edward Waters
and Allen are full conference members and will be eligible for the football title.
The new crop
There are new men at the helm of more than half the 13 SIAC programs.
In an interesting twist, four of the five West Division programs have new faces at the helm. Two of them – Tuskegee’s new head coach and AD Reggie Ruffin (fromMiles) and Clark Atlanta’s new head coach Willie Slater (from Tuskegee) – have moved from one conference program to another. Three in all – including former Fort Valley State head man Kevin Porter now at Central State – are getting their second head coaching assignments in the league. All three come with conference championship credentials.
Slater won seven SIAC titles in 15 years at Tuskegee. Ruffin took home four titles in 11 years at Miles. Porter won the 2016 SIAC crown while at FVSU.
The other new coaches include former Alabama and NFL player and coach Sam Shade at Miles, former Howard defensive backs coach Aaron Kelton who takes over from Shawn Quinn at
Savannah State, former NC A&T running backs coach Shawn Gibbs at Fort Valley State, and Ramon Johnson, the AD at Kentucky State who is also serving as acting head coach.
Of the current head coaches, Morehouse head coach Richard Freeman, in his 11th season leading the Maroon Tigers, now has the longest tenure at one school.
The shake-up of sideline mentors had little bearing however on who the head coaches and sports information directors voted to win division titles.
Preseason Predictions
In the East Division, reigning champion Albany State was picked to win as was defending champion Miles in the West.
Led by head coach Gabe Giardina, Albany State snapped their championship game losing streak by defeating Miles in the 2021 championship game, 31- 0. The Golden Rams pitched six shutouts, and collected their 11th championship game title since 1990 and ASU’s first since 2013.
The 2022 SIAC title game is scheduled for Nov. 12 hosted by the East champ
Preseason all-SIAC team
This year’s SIAC preseason team features 29 returning players from the 2021 team.
It is led on offense by Albany State quarterback Dionte Bonneau who was selected as this year’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. His counterpart on defense is Lane senior tackle Andrew Farmer.
Bonneau led the Golden Rams to a 10-2 overall mark, 7-0 mark and championship in the SIAC as well as a NCAA Div. II playoff berth. TheAtlanta,Ga.nativefinishedthe season with 1,896 passing yards and 19 passing touchdowns.
Farmer, a senior from Jacksonville, Fla., was a second- team All-SIAC performer last season and was a key element in the Dragon defense. Farmer led the Lane defense to a 6-4 overall and 3-3 in conference record and topped the league in sacks with 11.5 and finished with 54 total tackles from the defensive end position.
