Eagles ready to take flight

DURHAM -- N.C. Central coach Mose Rison spoke succinctly about his football team's record the last two seasons, accepting any criticism thrown his way.

"We're not going to make any excuses: 4-7 has not been good enough," he said.

Heading into his fourth season at N.C. Central, Rison knows there's a hunger for more wins. He has been credited with guiding a proud football program through its transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, but ultimately he knows judgment comes on the field.

With seven home games this season, starting with Thursday's opener against Johnson C. Smith, Rison's program has a great opportunity to prove it's headed in the right direction.

When N.C. Central left the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 2007 to begin playing as an independent in the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision, Rison had his team traveling for tough games as far north as Albany, N.Y., and as far west as San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Boarding buses and planes, the Eagles have played 17 road games the last three seasons. Those trips came with opponents' financial guarantees that helped build the program as the school settles into its first season in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference as a provisional member.

For Rison, in his first head coaching position, those bruised-arm battles with James Madison, Appalachian State and other teams shaped the character of a football team positioned to surge next season when it becomes eligible to compete for both NCAA and MEAC championships.

The new Mondoturf field and video screen scoreboard at N.C. Central's O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium offer proof of the upgrades made to the program. Armed with a school-record 60 scholarships, a roster stocked with fifth-year seniors and redshirt freshmen, and a stable coaching staff that's had to add only one new coach since he arrived in Durham, Rison said he sees progress, not pressure.

"In this job, I've given my heart," he said. "I know my kids appreciate and understand where we are. A lot of days, when things didn't go well, when we were traveling all those miles across the country, sitting here trying to put a schedule together, of course you could throw the towel in. This whole transition period has been a tough period. ... We've overcome that."

N.C. Central athletic director Ingrid Wicker-McCree said she is pleased with the direction of the program. She said Rison has met expectations in terms of running a clean program, stressing players' graduation and attracting a higher level of recruits.

"We're getting better," she said. "This year should be one of those turning points for us, meaning we should see some winning results."

Wicker-McCree also said the Eagles play a schedule more representative of future MEAC schedules, with games against conference foes Hampton and N.C A&T. Those games should offer more accurate criteria to judge Rison's progress, observers such as ESPN college football analyst Stan Lewter said.

"The footing is getting close to equal," Lewter said. "Now you get a chance to evaluate the program better."

Lewter said the Eagles continue to entice recruits with their brand of tight-fisted defense, led this season by senior linebacker Donald Laster. He said their West Coast offensive strategy is also attractive to athletic recruits, considering the blend of run and pass they've shown with quarterbacks such as Durham native Michael Johnson.

"Kids want to be somewhere there is excitement, where there's a buzz," Lewter said. "You're getting a positive vibe at Central. If I'm a kid, and I'm looking at colleges, especially if I'm in North Carolina, I think Central is a place to consider."

On the windowsill of his second-floor office, Rison keeps several signed and dated footballs. One was given to him in 2006 by former N.C. Central coach Rod Broadway after the Eagles won their second consecutive CIAA title. Rison was an assistant on that team.

Former New York Jets coach Herman Edwards presented Rison, an assistant on Edwards' staff, with a ball after the team won the AFC East championship in 2002.

He's holding space now for a football commemorating the Eagles' first MEAC title.

"This is going to be a championship football program," he said.