- . Black College Sports Review ssssssss ' t ' 1 I 'i ' " t* . i? ii. * ' ^ - ?11 ' " ' V"1**k' 1 - _ ii ' C By ANTHONY POWELL " 77^7: I TW Tka ?---? ;'-.:VV.V, WVNPW , I know it is doss to fbotbtll season. eel 1 want to "heap praise" on a group of who have pfftftfnifd extremely ' well this past spring. Few know about M their hard work aad their accomplishSJnws 'Sr';';-3?;| |fc Few people km heard ofPaul ;| I Emordi end Vernon George or Texaa | Southern. Theyg fir.t-round S prospects in the NFL draft You will never ; teed about them in the Review becausettey are being drafted by the NBA or |||j Mm0? lv ?Ugpu*o?w^ * - 4 L 1 >VUI 90 '0%- - .. TfV^ct MW! flight w iw^4%sMii MA #rf tlMt This event dmtvflu our tttjppoit sudi '' ' y| JSTttS6? ^h|S ^ ^ Thomas i assistant since 1973. But Gilliam had the i experience-and .the -track -record, ihcy J argued. The same couldn't be said for f Thomas. t "I don't think it was ever a matter of I me being accepted or not," Thomas recalls. 1 "It was a matter of differing opinions (as to c who should get the job). There were never anv hard feelinos ?e atwit * ? ? ?? 1M UUWtV AW i "As for what people were saying, I've 1 found that in sports, there is a lot of emo- 1 tion involved, and people tend to react in ( ALUMNI , A ... > . * . . IMMNHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMN working on their blocking schemes to try and & affect my play. They paid a tot more attention v to me last season because of the MVP award. The adjustments I made were just a matter of b me working harder. I saw more people when I p rushed the passer, which I felt like I was going * Page 10 - August 1987' ?|yggS|%???- ??? - * S Panthers' 44 noint^ Renfro ? atone - . vmmpwwvv WW vwwsvp^ Hinrw^iB v lyv with Lsvooda Lockett, Cathy Taylor and , ? i ?... ' !&.> ? -? ?? N'i ^ joceiyn latum * * neipcu me fnUiwi ? win thtl.600-meter relay in 3:41.1. | men's Dwition'lD ckanM^i. The Lions won the Division m title twoyean & ' TV* t ! ei#W m ..all * Sj^ TnC ^ -- With t WC^ 7rom Page 8 vays that they doritreally mean to. Every)ody'$ main concern Was the success of the irogram. There was a degree of uncertainty >ecause I was untested as a head coach, hit Tve always felt that victories settle a ot of issues. I feel that people are more omfortable with the staff we have now." Not getting the head coaching job didt't sit well with Gilliam. In spite of fhomas' requests, he felt it best to remove limself from TSU football. After all, jilliam had nurtured Thomas, coaching 7romPage 7 3 see anyway, if I hadn't seen more people, I Kjukfve felt that I wasn't doing the job." 1 Being on a contending title team and i eing the defending world champion com- < rise two different worlds, according to Dent, 1 ho has been in both positions. "We worked ] k;V ' *>mw A A.cx% :ft . . A. ? ! * ?_. K^ and women's indoor titles this winter sixth in the 200 meters"in 23.92. Miles him as a middle linebacker for the Tigers from '67 to 70. ~~ Their relatlohshiiThasritt~changed. Gilliam Sr. remains the teacher, Thomas remains the student Thomas often calls on Gilliam's advice in coaching matters. "Gilliam started me in the coaching business," Thomas says. "He even convinced me to stay in coaching when I was thinking about changing professions. When it comes ^o him and myself, I step aside. Joe Gilliam, John Merritt and Alvin Cole hard to get to the top/ he says, "bat it's even harder to stay there. Other teams are working to get to the top level also. When you're the champ, teams can have bad games for weeks, bat when they play you, they almost always play their best game. The Giants will find that *v Black c^g^on the Division I the resources ? right now ? to win (he Dhrskn I crown. Bvt (he acHftftte in die MEAC rod the SWAC (along with Tennessee State) do produce ???? good Delaware StatuteAewomeo. ^ jSE^yyi man have played major roles in my development as a coach." " It' finn **** ? u o^pMis umi 0111 i nomas nas some insurmountable mountains to scale. But you won't hear any TSU opponents feeling pity. The Tigers always seem to get it done, and TSlTs football opponents are all too well aware of that fact Craig T. Greenlee is an Atlanta-based free-lance writer and a frequent contribu tor to the Review. out this year. It's going to be much tougher (to | repeat than they think." Craig T. Greenlee is an Atlanta-based freelance writer who is a frequent contributor to the Review. . . t '