Inside Hotlanta and The SIAC
September 29, 2006
by Hal Lamar
Onnidan Online Columnist
Lane College is the conference kicker!
In just his second year as head coach at Tennessee's Lane College, Johnnie Cole has taken a team that was considered a doormat of the SIAC and black college football to the penthouse of the league. Cole credits a good recruiting year and instilling discipline in the program with their 5-0 start. (It's their second best start in school history. The first was in 1995 when the school sprinted to a 7-0 start behind the late Fred Lane who left the college and became one of the first from a small school to walk on to a pro team (Carolina Panthers) and end up starting.
Johnny Cole
"I told the kids the quicker they buy into our system, the quicker we get Ws in the win column." he told INSIDE in an interview Thursday, September 27.
Cole, who assisted his brother LC at Tennessee State and Alabama State, says connections he established with many high school coaches has been invaluable to him at LC.
"Another thing is, we changed attitudes. We made them cut their hair and take off those earings and saggy pants. We had to jettison a few players too. We only have 13 guys from last year's team We have a whole new team that doesn't know anything about Lane's past , They just know the here and now."
Cole says the team has several outstanding players including senior leader Jacoby Jones, who many say is the school's second Fred Lane.
"We think Jacoby has the skills to go to the next level but I discussed it with him and told him not to try to go out and have a big year. You've done enough to attract pro scouts. Focus on being a winner on and off the field. He tells the other guys, it's not about me , It's about us and that's our motto this year."
The Dragons are in Tuscaloosa this week taking on Stillman College, coached by the veteran Greg Thompson.
"They got the best 1-4 team in black college football," Cole says without hesitation.
[offer]
The 5-0 mark has already scored pluses for Lane College's campus.
"Actually, it's good for the city of Jackson (Tennessee). The atmosphere and attitudes are high and expectations are going up too. I tell the players we got something special. With that comes responsibility both on and off the field."
BY THE BYE, Cole''s brother LC landed on his feet. He is Athletic Director and head football coach at Montgomery Alabama's Sidney Lanier High School. The school's record currently is 2-2.
Alums of Lane College will be delighted to know that one of their own, the late Donald L Hollowell, has an endowed chair at the University of Georgia. Hollowell, from Wichita Kansas, played quarterback for Lane College in the late 30s and was inducted several years ago in the SIAC Hall of Fame.. He was the personal lawyer for Martin Luther King Junior and ran Jim Crow off the campus of UGA in 1961, getting Hamilton Holmes and Charlyne Hunter-Gault admitted as the school's first two black enrollees.
Posted By: Jehan Bunch
Monday, October 2nd 2006 at 11:17AM
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