Sunday, March 17, 2013

Southern LB coach Atkinson adds new thinking

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Nearly 11 years ago, former New York Jets coach Herm Edwards spouted what is still one of the most iconic phrases in the sports world — “You play to win the game.”

Upon his arrival at Southern University in January, Lorick Atkinson brought with him a similar mentality with a bit of a different twist.

“We have a saying here called ‘win to play,’ ” Atkinson said. “If you win to play, the rest of it will take care of itself.”

The first-year Jaguars linebacker coach has carried that outlook with him during his coaching stops and is hoping to continue the same success he’s had at his previous positions.

Atkinson began his coaching career on the high school level in 1996 before moving to Furman, North Greenville College and an eight-year stint at Gardner-Webb, where he worked as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

He also helped in one crucial hire while at Gardner-Webb, vouching for Dawson Odums’ spot on the coaching staff where he would get his first taste of the collegiate game.

Atkinson moved on to being the head coach at Chowan University from 2005-2007, taking nearly a five-year hiatus from coaching to tend to his sickly father.


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