For the third time in the past five five seasons, one of the top Division II jobs in the country has opened at Valdosta State.
The latest coach to leave Valdosta was just a few weeks ago, as Tremaine Jackson departed the storied program after their loss in the national title game to Ferris State (D-II - MI) for the opportunity to become the head coach at Prairie View A&M (FCS - TX). He spent three seasons leading the Blazers.
As the program has charted a path forward the past few weeks, sources have shared with FootballScoop their candidate pool for their new leader is both diverse and impressive.
Sources share that Valdosta State has narrowed their candidate pool to at least three.
Among those drawing consideration is coaching veteran Sparky McEwen, the head coach at Davenport (D-II - MI), who also happens to be a former assistant at Ferris State under 3-time national champion Tony Annese - the program that has beaten Valdosta State under their last two head coaches (Gary Goff and Jackson).
Started as an NAIA program about a decade ago, McEwen was selected to usher the Davenport program in their jump to the Division II level and has done a remarkable job despite some serious obstacles.
Competing in the toughest Division II conference in the country, with less than 70 miles separating them from Ferris State (winner of the 3 of the past 4 national titles) and within 28 miles of fellow Division II power Grand Valley State, an annual mainstay among the top 5 teams in the country, McEwen has managed to quickly build one of the most overachieving programs in the country.
His work at Davenport has garnered him GLIAC Coach of the Year honors and he and his staff have had the Panthers ranked as high as 9th in the country while punching an at-large ticket to the Division II playoff in 2023.
While Ferris has dominated Division II playoff foes like Central Oklahoma (78-17), defending national champion Harding (41-7), and even Valdosta State (49-14) in the national title game, McEwen's squad has had the answers to the test, and been one of the few programs to play within striking distance, losing by 15 points this past fall, and by 18 last season.
With those just a few of his long list of accomplishments, they've been done despite being at a program considerably underfunded in comparison to their GLIAC counterparts.
All that considered, as well as McEwen and his staff's success in the recruiting the transfer portal to stock their roster with talent year-in and year-out, were likely exactly what put him on Valdosta's radar. Back in 2021, McEwen inked a contract extension taking him through the 2026 season.
While there are certainly other candidates drawing consideration, we're told a former FBS assistant at a Group of Five program and a coach with previous ties to the Gulf South Conference are deep into the process with the Blazers.
Despite the on-field success, the job that has lost their last two coaches to FCS opportunities after taking the Blazers to the national title game is not without its fair share of concerns.
While Valdosta State presents an opportunity where the right guy can come in and compete for national titles immediately, and at a Division II school with resources more comparable to an FCS program, coaches familiar with the opportunity have shared significant areas of concern, especially for coaches who have a vision for the program that stretches 3 years, 5 years, and well beyond, a sentiment that Tremaine Jackson seemed to allude to in his farewell statement.
Jackson was the fifth different head coach to lead the Blazers to the national title game, which is a record at the Division II level. But in his farewell message to Blazer nation, he shared that he had been seeking to secure a "long term plan for success" but the two sides ultimately could not reach an agreement on what that would look like.
Multiple sources have shared that in their conversations with Valdosta State decision makers in their search, there seems to be an unwillingness, or at the very least a hesitation, to provide the type of contract to a head coach that would allow a quality coach the security to build the consistent winner the fan base clearly craves.
That's the same sentiment was echoed by Jackson.
The process is moving along quickly at this point, sources share, and the candidate selected is set to take over a program with an undeniable history, in some of the most fertile recruiting grounds the country has to offer. Even with the concerns, it's an attractive job to a lot of folks.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.