St. Augustine’s University football coach, Howard Feggins, does not have the typical goals of a first-year head coach.
Feggins set the bar high for St.Augustine University at CIAA Media Day as he talked about his plans to transform the football program by seeking a championship and establishing a JV team.
“My mindset is that we have to win now. I know coaches sometimes want to build a program,” Feggins told HBCU Gameday. “I’m not here to build. I’m here to win.”
Most first-year head coaches that take over struggling teams direct their focus on rebuilding the program and gradually improving their season record over several years. With the success that Feggins has experienced in his coaching career, he believes that he can bypass the rebuilding stage and win now.
“If I had to set a bar we’d win a championship,” Feggins said. “I know it’s going to sound unrealistic but at the same time I went to a place that won four in a row but could never win it.”
Feggins spent last season at CIAA Southern Division rival Fayetteville State University. Before he took over the offense, Fayetteville State came up short on four straight trips to the CIAA championship. Feggins helped the Broncos finally push through on their fifth attempt to win the CIAA Championship. After winning the conference title, the Broncos competed in the NCAA Division-II playoffs where they lost in the opening round to Delta State University.
Feggins won a conference championship in one year, but he’s thinking even bigger than that. He has his eyes set on winning a national championship and he wants St. Augustine to share that same goal.
“Well, I think the big thing is understanding that winning a championship is a great opportunity, but I think the big thing is for anyone in the Southern Division, I know for us last year is to look outside of just winning a conference title. A lot of excitement, but at the end of the day, we want to run a national championship,” Feggins said. “And I think that when we get everyone in that thought process, coaches and players that you can go on into the playoff and have success.”
I understand that coach Feggins has big big dreams which is admirable and inspiring in its own right but it’s insane to say what he’s saying will at all be obtainable for a program who never had a strong football history to begin with. In my opinion he could’ve kept and built on staying at Fayetteville State who has a much better footprint. His biggest challenge will be recruiting the type of players he needs to even have a winning season to start from a program who doesn’t even know what’s that like. For me that’s not a realistic approach to success how he’s going to get that kind of talent to come to St. Aug?