PINE BLUFF, Ark. -- Former Washington Redskins linebacker
Monte Coleman was introduced as the new football coach at
Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday, the same day Mo Forte was fired.
Coleman played for the Redskins from 1979-94, winning three
Super Bowls. The Pine Bluff native, who played college football at
Central Arkansas, had been the Golden Lions' defensive coordinator
the last two seasons.
"This ranks among the Super Bowls," the 50-year-old Coleman
said after his hiring was announced. "Some of the games that I've
played, the Super Bowls that we were able to play in with the
Redskins, this has to rank among those."
Athletic director Skip Perkins said the school and Coleman were
working out the details of a five-year contract.
"Continuity was important to me, and we could have gone outside
and looked for this person or that person, but why look that far if
you've got somebody in your back yard?" said Perkins, who took
over as UAPB's athletic director this year. "He was right here."
Forte was 21-22 in four seasons at UAPB, and the Golden Lions
beat Texas Southern 20-10 Saturday to finish 4-7. Pine Bluff, which
plays in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA),
finished the year with three straight wins.
Forte led the Golden Lions to the Southwestern Athletic
Conference championship game in 2006. He coached a good part of
that season from the press box because of a heart ailment.
Forte did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Coleman said he spoke with Perkins on Sunday about the
possibility of becoming head coach, but during the season he was
focused on coaching.
"We were trying to win football games, being naive to all the
rumors that were going around, hoping that they wouldn't be true,
as far as coach Forte," Coleman said. "Unfortunately it was, and
I take a lot of pride in accepting this position at this time."