CHARLIE STRONG NAMED HEAD COACH OF USF FOOTBALL

USF Director of Athletics Mark Harlan announced today the appointment of Charlie Strong as the fourth head coach in USF football program history.

A two-time Big East Coach of the Year and a vital part of two national championships at the University of Florida, Strong served head coaching stints at the University of Texas (2014-16) and the University of Louisville (2010-13).  Overall, in his 34 seasons as a collegiate coach, Strong spent 15 seasons working in the state of Florida.

“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Charlie, his wife, Vicki, and their children Tory, Hailee and Hope, back to the state of Florida and to our Bulls family,” Harlan said. “Charlie is a tremendous leader and mentor for our student-athletes and a widely-respected coach with a resume full of achievements at the highest levels of college football. He combines a drive to win with great integrity and deep, long-standing connections in the state of Florida.  The future of USF football is very bright under his direction.”

Established as a charismatic leader, strong recruiter and one of the best defensive minds in college football, Strong experienced great success as a defensive coordinator in the SEC for 11 seasons, including helping the University of Florida and head coach Urban Meyer win national championships in 2006 and 2008.

 “I would like to thank President Genshaft and Mark Harlan for their confidence and belief in me,” Strong said. “I am humbled that we have a shared commitment to take this university and this football program to even greater heights.  Some of the best football talent in the country is right here in the Bay Area and throughout the state of Florida, and I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with the young men in the USF football program and build on the strong foundation already in place.”  

As a head coach, Strong led Louisville to back-to-back Big East Championships in 2011 and 2012 and posted a 37-15 record in four seasons leading the Cardinals. He reached a bowl game every season, including a 33-23 victory over Florida in the 2013 Sugar Bowl, completing an 11-2 season. Strong’s 2012 Louisville team finished 13th in the final Top 25 rankings and his 2013 team, which competed in the American Athletic Conference, finished ranked 15th with a 12-1 mark, and posted back-to-back bowl victories for the first time in program history.

“We are especially excited to welcome Charlie Strong to the University of South Florida,” said USF System President Judy Genshaft. “He joins our football program at an incredibly exciting time, and we look forward to seeing him build on our ongoing foundation and momentum. The board of trustees and I believe he brings outstanding leadership and experience, and is sure to be a tremendous resource to the entire USF System.”

Strong departed Louisville for the University of Texas in 2014.  At Texas, he rebuilt the roster, put his stamp on the culture and elevated the program’s infrastructure while posting a 16-21 record, leading the Longhorns to one bowl game in three seasons.  His tenure at Texas included wins over No. 10 Oklahoma (2015), No. 12 Baylor (2015) and No. 10 Notre Dame (2016) while securing two Top-10 ranked recruiting classes.  Overall, as a head coach, Strong has coached in six bowl games (3-3) during his career.

Strong also held positions on the coaching staffs at Florida, Texas A&M (1985), Southern Illinois (1986-87), Mississippi (1990), Notre Dame (1995-98) and South Carolina (1999-2002).

He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at the University of Florida in 1983.  Strong spent 15 seasons as an assistant at Florida over four stints, including seven years as the defensive coordinator, the last five of which were under current Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer.  Strong also served on two of coach Lou Holtz’s staffs, spending the first two years of his Notre Dame tenure under Holtz, as well as four more as defensive coordinator at South Carolina under the Hall of Famer.

From 2003-09, Strong’s defensive units at Florida produced 13 All-Americans and seven first-round NFL Draft picks. His units regularly ranked among the best in the nation statistically and allowed an average of just 17.6 points per game over that span, which ranked ninth in the country.

A native of Batesville, Ark., Strong was a three-year letter winner (1979-81) and three-time all-conference safety at Central Arkansas, which reached the NAIA Playoffs each of his final two seasons. He was also a two-time all-conference performer in track and field and graduated in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in education. Strong was inducted into the Central Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. He and his wife, Vicki, have a son, Tory, and two daughters, Hailee and Hope.

The No. 22/25-ranked Bulls (10-2; 7-1 AAC) will take on South Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl at Legion Field on Dec. 29. Interim Head Coach T.J. Weist will lead the Bulls in the bowl game. USF begins bowl practices on Sunday, Dec. 11 on the USF campus. USF will compete in the program’s eighth bowl game in just its 16th season of FBS football.

[SOURCE]

Nation of Islam not happy with Keith Ellison

In a move they may actually help Keith Ellison in his bid to become DNC chair, the Nation of Islam has written an editorial that condemns Ellison for what the organization claims is his smearing of Minister Louis Farrakhan. Read that editorial below.

Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison is seeking to lead the Democratic National Committee as the party seeks someone to bring Democrats into the political Promised Land. There is nothing wrong with Rep. Ellison’s desire to move his party forward or his desire to help make America progress.

But he must be condemned and lambasted for trying to make his political bones by smearing the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan. The Minnesota congressman has been attacked for a connection with the Nation of Islam years ago, while in college and for support of the Million Man March.

The Anti-Defamation League and others have branded Rep. Ellison as unfit for office, saying he is tainted by the anti-Semitism of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Given that neither the Minister nor the Nation are anti-Semitic, a man with principles and courage would have stood up on the truth, the track record and the history of the Minister and his followers. Over the past 40 years, the Nation and the Minister have not harmed nor prohibited any Jewish person from exercising their rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It was not Muslims who chanted in the 1980s, “Who do you want? Farrakhan! How do you want him? Dead!” as the Jewish Defense Organization did. It was not the Nation of Islam nor the Minister who were involved in a 1990s alleged death plot featuring Jewish federal stooge Michael Fitzpatrick. Mr. Fitzpatrick seized on the pain and vulnerability of Quibilah Shabazz, a daughter of Malcolm X, and federal authorities charged her with planning the murder of the Minister. It was the Minister whose blast of truth shook the feds as he declared the FBI has never been his friend. The Minister declared he wanted nothing to happen to Malcolm X widow Dr. Betty Shabazz, or her daughters and pulled the covers off of an old enemy, while seeking reconciliation. His stand was so incredible the feds essentially dropped the charges against Qubilah Shabazz and a rapprochement between the Nation and Dr. Shabazz started. She was featured as one of the speakers of the 1995 Million Man March. The prosecutors in this fiasco, by the way, were located in Rep. Ellison’s home state of Minnesota.

Mr. Ellison, who was captured in at least one photo distributing The Final Call while in college, condemned the Minister as he sought his new place. But his cowardly and baseless repudiation is nothing new. While running for Congress a decade ago, his “I’m not with Farrakhan and he’s a hater” narrative started.

But let’s go back and examine words published in the Nov. 6, 1995 edition of Insight News, a Black weekly in Minneapolis: “Third, Minister Farrakhan is a role model for Black youth; however he is not an anti-Semite. He is a sincere, tireless and uncompromising advocate of the Black community and other oppressed peoples in America and around the world. Despite some of the most relentless negative propaganda anyone has ever faced, most Black people regard him as a role model for youth and increasingly, a central voice for our collective aspirations.

“I am sensitive to members of the Jewish community who have been lead to believe that Minister Farrakhan is anti-Jewish. I believe they should do two things: engage in a dialogue with Black people who support Minister Farrakhan (which includes Cornel West, Jesse Jackson, Ben Chavis, Dorothy Height and many others) and urge their leadership to engage in the dialogue proposed at the Million Man March.

“The White community, however, must come to the realization that there are too many Black people who have been cleaned-up, taught and uplifted by Minister Farrakhan for us to let anyone gratuitously insult him anymore.”

That’s pretty powerful language and a powerful argument penned by one Keith X Ellison. Yes. That’s the same Rep. Keith Ellison who represents the Fifth Congressional District in Minnesota and seeks to chair the Democratic National Committee. He was also once known as Keith Ellison-Muhammad.

If Mr. Ellison once believed those things about the Minister and changed his mind, that’s his business. We will leave Allah (God) to judge and handle the hypocrites. But what cannot be tolerated are the lies, the slander and false narrative against Min. Farrakhan. These lies cannot be proven, nor can these false charges be sustained. The Minister has been a strong voice for Black self-determination, a warrior against Jewish paternalism and control of Black people and a sledge hammer against the wall of White supremacy and neo-colonialism. None of that work would make him the favorite of a system or wicked people whose demonic rule he is working to destroy.

But Mr. Ellison knows better. Years ago sitting in my Chicago office here at The Final Call, when I was managing editor, there was no question about Min. Farrakhan and who he was. There was no question when Mr. Ellison, aka Keith X Ellison, aka Keith Ellison-Muhammad, came to Chicago for an urban peace summit in October 1993 that featured Min. Farrakhan, or a vital summit in Kansas City that included Min. Farrakhan as the major speaker and one who helped legitimize the anti-violence movement in April 1993.

The problem comes from a simple place: “All of you that want national and state prominence: Sometimes I am the ‘litmus test’ to see if White folk can do anything good for you. And some of you are so weak and so cowardly, that your desires mean more than the integrity of your being. But every time I forgave my brothers, and kept moving forward,” observed Min. Farrakhan in a message delivered Oct. 30.

The Minister’s forgiveness and willingness to suffer insults apparently has led some to think that there is no end to his patience and smearing him is acceptable— just come back and apologize in the dark later. No. This man’s life’s work, his status as a vibrant elder and indispensable leader in our community cannot and must not allow that. Mr. Ellison and those who would misuse the Minister’s name for their personal advancement must be confronted and their hypocrisy and cowardice must be condemned. How can Rep. Ellison speak of justice for the poor, a just U.S. foreign policy, social change that improves the lives of people and respect for all and denigrate a man who has worked to achieve those goals for longer than the congressman has been alive?

Shame on you Mr. Ellison for your pandering and shame on us if we don’t call you out for it.

[SOURCE]

Trump: Black voters staying home ‘almost as good’ as those who voted for him

When many of us tried to warn our fellow black voters that staying home and not voting was a vote for Donald Trump we were ignored. Well maybe hearing it from Trump himself will finally wake some of you up. President-Elect Donald Trump bragged about this at a rally in Grand Rapids Michigan. Listen to this below.

Al Sharpton to lead We Shall Not Be Moved March in Washington DC

Rev. Al Sharpton & National Action Network (NAN) along with other major civil rights group to hold a We Shall Not Be Moved march in Washington DC just six days before Donald Trump's inauguration. The march is part of a series of other marches and rallies that are meant to remind Trump that voting rights, civil rights, and healthcare are important issues to many people of color. Learn more here: https://www.facebook.com/themarch2017/

On January 14, thousands will converge in Washington, D.C. as the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday begins — just six days before Donald Trump’s inauguration. We will rally and put him (and the nation) on notice that there are some things that will not be changed no matter who is president and what party dominates the House and Senate. Protecting the civil rights of citizens and the voting rights of people that have been excluded, providing health care for all Americans and equal opportunity should supersede any of the beltway partisan fights that we are inevitably headed into. Some have given their lives and others dedicated their lives to try to make Dr. King’s dream a reality, and now they have added to that mission by preserving the legacy of President Obama. Groups come and go, elections come and go, but some things must remain constant and non-negotiable.

March Route

· Assemble at 9am at the National Sylvan Theater

(Sylvan Theater, Independence Avenue Southwest & 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20024) Light Rally will take place.

· March from National Sylvan Theater to West Potomac Park via Independence Ave SW beginning at 11am

· Rally at West Potomac Park beginning at 12pm

(West Potomac Park, Washington, DC 20418)

Directly across from Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Victor Cruz speaks out after racist graffiti found at teammate's home

I know there are many in America that prefer that athletes, especially black ones just enjoy their millions and stay quiet on social issues. Thankfully Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will have none of that. Cruz spoke out on Thursday after the home of teammate Nikita Whitlock was robbed and vandalized with racist graffiti. He sees this as a reflection of the current state of the country after Donald Trump's election. Watch his comments below.