Southern University coach optimistic in '07

By Eric Narcisse, Louisiana Sports Bureau, Shreveport Times

BATON ROUGE — Last year, coach Pete Richardson and his Southern Jaguars entered the season with great expectations.

Unfortunately for the Jaguars, those expectations weren't met large in part because of injuries suffered to key players.

Instead, the Jaguars stumbled to a 5-6 overall record and finished 4-5 in the SWAC, leaving Richardson looking forward to this year as Southern goes through fall camp.

"I'm really looking forward to it," said Richardson, who is in his 15th season as head coach of the Jaguars. "We faced a lot of adversity last year, especially with injuries which decimated our season. I saw us progress as the season went on and we finished up strong."

Richardson is hoping the Jaguars, who believe they've developed more depth last year, can build upon the strides made in the final month of the season.

"We had a lot of young players that saw a lot of time last year because of injuries," Richardson said. "We were forced to use a lot of young players who weren't ready to play because of those injuries, but I feel that will be a positive for us this year."

Among the key players the Jaguars are happy to have return from injuries this year are seniors Gerard Landry, a 6-foot-2 225-pound receiver from Lutcher and 6-1 190-pound defensive back Jarmaul George.

"We're happy to get both Landry and George back this year," Richardson said.

"We're talking about two three-year starters that were injured most of last year. George had a shoulder injury, but he had surgery and it's all cleaned up now. They are both ready to play and it's great to see their swagger back."

One player who will not be taking the field this year for the Jaguars is offensive lineman Jacoby Collins. Collins a 6-5, 362-pound offensive lineman would have been a senior this season.

"Jacoby has had some academic problems so he will not be playing football," Richardson said. "He has also had some nagging injuries that he couldn't overcome. I know in high school he missed a couple of years with injuries before playing and he missed some time here with injuries."

Besides seeing the returning players from last year, Richardson is extremely excited to see the incoming freshmen.

"The freshmen bring a lot of excitement to the practice field," Richardson said, "because they know the history of Southern University. So, they always come in with that gleam in their eyes and the desire to compete.

"There is always going to be high expectations at Southern University. The expectations are always high for us and that's because of our tradition."