TALLAHASSEE, FL – The announcement of the next FAMU head football coach is one step closer after the head coach selection committee returned their recommendations to FAMU athletic director Derek Horne.
The committee, led by FAMU NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative Ebenezer Oriaku, selected three finalists from the entire pool of applicants to present as the best candidates for the position that has been vacant on a permanent basis since Nov.3, upon the announcement by Joe Taylor that he was retiring effective immediately.
The three finalists, listed alphabetically and unranked by the committee, are John Eason, John Hendrick and Earl Holmes. A fourth finalist, Rick Comegy, withdrew his name from contention. He was added as a finalist after his initial application was erroneously omitted from the initial selection pool.
Horne, is in the process of conducting on-campus interviews with the candidates. Holmes is scheduled to interview on tomorrow. Eason is scheduled to interview on Tuesday and Hendrick will interview on Wednesday. “We are pleased that the committee, led by Dr. Oriaku, did an excellent job and upheld the integrity of the process. They were diligent, yet swift in their evaluations, as we want to move the process along and name a coach that can get Rattler football back to sustained championship level,”
Horne said. “We will waste no time in our last stage of evaluations in order to ensure that we do not hamper the ability of our 16th coach to recruit and prepare for the 2013 season,” Horne added.
The group includes two former Rattlers, in Eason and Holmes, who could be critical in rallying the FAMU alumni. But, Hendrick offers the outside-the-box approach that even some alumni feel might be appropriate. Either way, the three candidates displayed in their resumes the potential to lead the Rattlers through their next era.
