{"id":809,"date":"2011-12-05T16:23:19","date_gmt":"2011-12-05T16:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/?p=809"},"modified":"2011-12-05T16:23:19","modified_gmt":"2011-12-05T16:23:19","slug":"comegy-receives-contract-extension-and-pay-increase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/2011\/12\/05\/comegy-receives-contract-extension-and-pay-increase\/","title":{"rendered":"Comegy receives contract extension and pay increase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooke Kelly<\/strong>
\nManaging Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rick Comegy will continue to lead the football program at Jackson State University for two more years.<\/p>\n

JSU Athletics Director Vivian Fuller, announced his contract extension yesterday at an 11 a.m. press conference in the Sports Hall of Fame Room in the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe an individual should have an opportunity to finish what they start,\u201d said Fuller. \u201cWe have done a good role with our academic enhancement center, and Coach Comegy and his staff have done a great job with helping us monitor that center.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe have seen vast improvement within the APR [Academic Progress Rates]. We still have some work to do and I believe he should be the one to help follow this work through.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, the football team\u2019s APR\u00a0 of 913 rose over the NCAA\u2019s 900 point post season eligibility benchmark. The team\u2019s 2009-2010 score of 886 made the team ineligible for post season play including the SWAC championship game and tournaments. That score brought the team\u2019s four year score down to 888, and since the four year APR has to be over 900, the team will be ineligible to play in next year\u2019s SWAC championship game as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all look forward to coach Comegy\u2019s continued leadership of Jackson State\u2019s football program,\u201d said JSU President, Carolyn Meyers. \u201cI am confident that he will lead our student-athletes to even greater success on the field and in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have established a strong academic enhancement center which created a very good center that will work with our student athletes. Student athletes will be monitored in all aspects of the game, and every coach will be held accountable for these efforts,\u201d said Fuller.<\/p>\n

Comegy said he plans to get the team\u2019s grades up. \u201cIf I can\u2019t do that then I don\u2019t want to be here. If I can\u2019t do the job completely then I don\u2019t want to be here myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, the Tigers finished their sixth season with Comegy as head coach. During the past six years, they\u2019ve had a 41-26 record, and last season, they ended with a 9-2 record. In 2007, the Tigers won the SWAC Championship under Comegy, and they returned to the championship game in 2008.<\/p>\n

During the press conference, Comegy thanked Fuller and Meyers for the contract extension and recognized the football staff that he said does not always get the recognition for the work they do.<\/p>\n

The coach recognized the success of the JSU football program which celebrated 100 years this year and the efforts of others who work to advance the football program at JSU through the New Players Association, Blue Bengal Association, and Tiger Fund.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s working together on one accord and it makes being here even more beautiful,\u201d said Comegy.<\/p>\n

As far as recruiting goes, the coach said he feels the team is going in good directions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost a great quarterback, but I think we\u2019re going to bring in a quality young man who can stand up in there and do the job we need to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout his six years, some Comegy critics have argued that he did not bring in enough high school students from Mississippi but rather recruited junior college or transfer students that didn\u2019t always have good academic standing.<\/p>\n

In response to a question about bringing in more high school students rather than junior college and transfer students, Comegy said, \u201cA lot of people in our conference have taken up where we started off on, by bringing in junior college guys and winning games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to concentrate on more high school guys here in the state of Mississippi and try to do the best job we can in our own state with high schools\u00a0 and continue building that four year program,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Still however, Comegy said he plans to continue bringing in junior college and transfer students. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to bring in some ju-co guys to be able to have some stability to your program that can make it swing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an effort to recruit players in good academic standing, Comegy said, \u201cBefore we even watch film on a new player, we\u2019ve got to see his transcript first, and we want to make sure that we\u2019re going in that direction and heading that way first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey key right now is just making sure we\u2019re doing the right thing, staying on top of the players and making sure they\u2019re getting in the classroom and doing what they\u2019re supposed to do to be student athletes,\u201d continued Comegy.<\/p>\n

In addition to getting his contract extended, Comegy is receiving a three percent raise from his previous salary, making his salary $191,580.
\n\u201cEveryone should be awarded for their efforts and we sat down and agreed upon a raise and that\u2019s what we came up with,\u201d said Fuller.<\/p>\n

Samuel Tingle, an avid JSU football fan who travels from Meridian for every home game and to the Tennessee State and Southern games, said he is relieved to hear that Comegy will be staying for another couple of years.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis record speaks for itself.\u00a0 It\u2019s a no-brainer. You wouldn\u2019t find a better coach.\u00a0 He\u2019s a huge part of what\u2019s been built in the football program over the past few years,\u201d said Tingle.<\/p>\n

Comegy expressed desires to be the football team\u2019s head coach past the two year extension. He said as long as he is winning, capable of winning, and wanted,\u00a0 he plans to be here.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want to see good football. I want them to see good football. I want to bring a great brand of football here to Jackson State, and we will continue to do that,\u201d said Comegy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brooke Kelly Managing Editor Rick Comegy will continue to lead the football program at Jackson State University for two more years. JSU Athletics Director Vivian Fuller, announced his contract extension yesterday at an 11 a.m. press conference in the Sports Hall of Fame Room in the Lee E. Williams Athletics and Assembly Center. \u201cI believe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-campus-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/theflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}