Alcorn State to name football coach on Monday

May 27, 2012 - 1:34 AM Alcorn State, MS (Sports Network) - Alcorn State's long search for a new head football coach will end Monday with an announcement at the Southwestern Athletic Conference university.

Alcorn State president M. Christopher Brown II will introduce the coach at a 3 p.m. ET news conference on campus.

The Braves program has been without a head coach since Melvin Spears Jr. was fired in February.

Alcorn State announced last month that the head coach would be named during the university's commencement week May 7-12, but did not follow through with an announcement.

Last month, four finalists were named by the university: Todd McDaniel, Alcorn State's defensive line coach and interim head coach since December, when Spears was put on administrative leave following his first season; Michael Armour, the Northern Colorado offensive coordinator and a former Alcorn State assistant coach; Fredrick Farrier, the former head coach at Kentucky State; and Jay Hopson, the former Southern Mississippi and Memphis defensive coordinator.

Footballscoop.com reported on May 12 that Armour would be named head coach, but Alcorn State might have refuted it on Saturday by announcing: "Members of the search committee, campus alumni, community leaders and university donors have been invited to join in Alcorn's highly anticipated announcement after weeks of false speculations and inaccurate rumors.

"The date for the announcement was confirmed and held confidential almost three weeks ago when campus management realized they would be unable to complete critical data analysis in advance of graduation activities."

"We could not rush this process," Brown said. "Alcorn's leadership along with the search committee took the responsibility of selecting the next head football coach very seriously. A thorough process was necessary to find the best hire for Alcorn at this point in our history. Additionally, the university needed to reassess football operations over the past decade and dedicate the resources necessary for Division I program logistics and student- athlete recruitment."

Alcorn State finished 2-8, including 1-8 in the SWAC, last season.