To be quite blunt, I'm not 100% sure if your seat can ever truly get hot in Pine Bluff; after all, when you have to work with among the lowest athletic budgets in the country ($7.1 million per USATODAY's yearly research on college programs yearly athletic budgets), on top of the constant negative press the self proclaimed "City of Progress" struggles to deal with on a daily basis, I think any sensible person can sympathize with legendary head coach Monte Coleman's plight of trying to make his UAPB squad a consistent competitor in the SWAC.

To be fair, the city of Pine Bluff has finally passed multiple resolutions along with the approval of taxes to go along with the "Go Forward Pine Bluff" initiative that many hope will bring the sweeping changes desperately needed. And to be blunt yet again, I think it might be high time for sweeping changes to come down for the football department at UAPB. 


Before I go on, let me first say I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Coleman, both for his outstanding football playing career and his attempts at leaving a lasting mark in Pine Bluff. And when he was hired back in 2008 I really thought with his pedigree he could EASILY turn the Golden Lions into a force to be reckon with in the SWAC...

Fast forward nearly nine years later and M.C.'s overall record with Arkansas Pine Bluff sits at 38-62 overall, including 26-51 in conference play. Furthermore, he has only one SWAC Western Divisional Championship along with one SWAC Conference Title to show for his entire tenure (both won in 2012). From 2013 onward, the Lions have progressively gotten worst starting with being tied for 3rd that year, to being dead last in the SWAC Westeren division in both the '15 & '16 seasons.

Perhaps the lowest of the low came early last season, when what should've been a fairly easy victory for UAPB turned into an embarrassing home defeat at the hands of Oklahoma Panhandle State (who at the time of this game was in the process of dropping down to the NAIA Division after struggling to compete at Division II the last several years). 

Now, I pride myself on being familiar with most collegiate football teams in the land, and I have to say when I read the boxscore of that game, I was completely shocked that A) There is in fact a university let alone an athletic program entitled "OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE STATE".... (look, here's their logo if you don't believe me!)....


and B), I certainly am aware that while UAPB has never been a "traditionally strong" football program, you would still think competing at the DIVISION I-FCS level should by default alone make you capable of beating a program in the midst of dropping down to freakin NAIA. 


We all can't be the Alabamas, the Norte Dames, the SEC schools or even the North Dakota State's of the college football world but regardless, whether your a coach, player administrator or fan, you have to have a sense of pride in your team and at this current place in time, I see none for the Arkansas Pine Bluff program. When you struggle to beat Division II schools at your own home stadium consistently, I don't know what else needs to happen to make it clear to the AD or the President that "Hey, our football team has kind of hit rock bottom...In Poker terms, maybe it's time to cut our losses, fold our hand and find a new dealer.  I think not only is change inevitable for UAPB, it's DESPERATELY NEEDED. Coach Coleman has gotten this football program to go as far he could get it to go and four years later has really set this team back. 




There's sweeping changes coming to Pine Bluff, Arkansas and it's long overdue-not just for the city but for the Golden Lions program too.