East: As Southern knows, a team’s fortunes can change in a flash

COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  -- The Southern football program has an open date this week, which provides an opportunity to reflect on what lies ahead and what has happened along the way.

The Jaguars (7-3) have their annual nationally televised Thanksgiving weekend game against Grambling in the Bayou Classic coming up Nov. 30.

One week later, they will try to win their first Southwestern Athletic Conference championship since 2003 when they play Jackson State in the league’s title game in Houston.

Southern’s past 15 months are a good example of how dramatically the pendulum can swing in college football.

The 2012 season had barely begun when the university reacted to an 0-2 start by firing coach Stump Mitchell and naming defensive coordinator Dawson Odums interim coach.

The Jaguars pushed the reset button and salvaged some respectability by compiling a 4-5 record on Odums’ watch.

CONTINUE READING