 "Photo: Courtesy of Prairie View sports information")
After two months of searching and interviewing valuable candidates on Dec. 16, 2010 N.C. Central University hired its 21st head football coach in school history.
After former head coach Mose Rison was replaced on Oct. 18 of last year, rumors began to circulate around who would be the future coach.
The man chosen to restore the NCCU football program to prominence was Henry Frazier, the 2009 recipient of the Eddie Robinson award (best coach in FCS) while leading Prairie View A&M to a SWAC championship.
Critics of the move have said that the move seemed not to be a step up but a lateral move Frazier says otherwise.
"I felt like there was something special going on here from a facility, athletic, and campus standpoint," he said.
Under Frazier the Panthers amassed a 43-30 record in 12 years taking the once cellar dweller in in the SWAC, to a championship in 2009.
For this feat Frazier is very well respected as a coach and in the Prairie View community.
"When I talked to the president of Prairie View he was very congratulatory thanking me and wishing me well," said Frazier.
For those who don't know his style simply put it is winning. "Whatever we have to do to win the game we will do… if you stack the box we are going to air it out, if you back off we will run it," he said.
Frazier takes over a team that has several returning players that can make an impact upon stepping into the MEAC.
One of these players who will be counted on is redshirt-junior Geovonie Irvine who led the team in receptions and reception yards (53, 758) last season.
"The team feels positive about the hiring; coach told us that we are going to be a disciplined team which we lacked a little bit of last year," said Irvine.
Since being hired Frazier has not only met with the team but been on the road recruiting hoping that his efforts pay dividends in two weeks on national signing day.
"Kids want scholarships and parents are savvier nowadays you just have to be honest and upfront and sell your school and program," said Frazier.
The coach who officially began as of Jan. 1 is slated to make $225,000 annually, $95,000 more than his predecssor.
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