Southern stays at home for Odums’ first class

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  The day in December when he was introduced as Southern’s new football coach, Dawson Odums promised to make anybody “within a tank of gas” the focus of the program’s recruiting efforts.

Odums made good on the commitment in putting together his first recruiting class.

Seventeen of the 26 newcomers whom Southern celebrated Wednesday are prospects who will not be leaving Louisiana to continue their football careers. Fifteen of the in-state signees hail from high schools in Louisiana, and two others are Division I transfers.

“We knocked on every door of every high school in the state of Louisiana and tried to draw some of the best talent here to Southern,” Odums said. “I feel like we’ve got a great backyard that plays football. We don’t have to go outside the state to get a whole lot of talent.”

Southern signed only three Louisiana products last year after signing six the year before.

READ MORE