THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412150601
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Former Norfolk State football coach Willard Bailey could be unveiled as Virginia Union's new head coach as early as today.
Bailey left Norfolk Wednesday morning for an interview with Virginia Union athletic director James F. Battle. He said before departing that he felt his chances were good, but that some negotiating remained to be done.
``I'm still not 100 percent sure,'' he said. ``But I feel good about things.''
He was not available for comment Wednesday night. Battle did not return phone calls placed to his office.
Sources within the CIAA say influential Virginia Union alumni have pushed the school to hire Bailey, including former Gov. Douglas Wilder, and that an announcement could be made this morning.
``I have strong support up here,'' Bailey acknowledged. ``Very strong. You've heard of the silent majority? I have the silent majority at Virginia Union behind me.''
Bailey, a Suffolk native, cut his coaching teeth at Virginia Union from 1971 through 1983, when he went 106-32-4 and won five CIAA championships. His last three Virginia Union teams won league championships.
He was lured to Norfolk State, his alma mater, in 1984 as football coach and athletic director and went 10-2 his first season, winning another CIAA crown. He also took the Spartans to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time.
He was a winner at Norfolk State, going 52-40-1 in nine seasons, but resigned following the 1992 season, in which the Spartans went 3-7, their worst finish in two decades.
Later that summer several former players accused Bailey of violating NCAA rules. The allegations, all made anonymously, included charges that he changed grades.
However, a year-long Norfolk State probe exonerated Bailey of any wrongdoing.
Bailey told reporters in 1992 that he was leaving Norfolk State because he was worn out. Bailey amended that slightly on Wednesday.
``I was worn out and needed time off,'' he said. ``There were also several negative things going on that were getting to the kids and it was reflected in their play. If I had stayed, the negatives weren't going to go away.
``We knew we wouldn't do anything to write home about in 1992. We had a team of freshmen. But we felt that team would be capable of winning a CIAA championship in a few years.
``As much as I looked forward to coaching the kids again, I just felt it was better for everyone for me to step aside.''
Bailey, who is a full-time professor at Norfolk State, never lost his desire to coach. Last season he interviewed for jobs at Winston-Salem and North Carolina Central.
However, the Virginia Union position is the first he appeared enthusiastic about pursuing, even though it is no longer the CIAA's prime program.
Virginia Union's program has been in turmoil since Joe Taylor, Bailey's successor, left following the 1991 season. The Panthers fired Taylor's successor, Mel Rose, after several games in 1992. Assistant coaches Sherman Wood and Richard Macon finished the season as co-head coaches.
Virginia Union was 3-5-1 that season, and then went 2-8-1 in 1993 under new coach Henry Lattimore. Lattimore was fired several weeks into this past season, when the Panthers went 1-9.
Bailey says he can turn the program around, and adds that the trauma of suffering through the investigation into the alleged violations made him stronger.
``When I was at Virginia Union, everybody on that campus and everybody in the city of Richmond was behind our program,'' he said. ``They took us to the mountaintop there. We really had things going well.
``If I decide to go back, I'll be trying to get back on the mountaintop. To go from one mountaintop to the next, you have to go through a valley.
``I've been through that valley and learned a lot. I learned that when you're in the valley, who's responsible for all of those victories is the one that counts, and that's God almighty.
``I'm ready to coach. If I go I'll miss Norfolk State and my many friends there very much. It's a marvelous place.
``But so is Virginia Union.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Willard Bailey
by CNB