MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- The four Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships and four HBCU national championships Southern won during his two stops and aggregate 13-year tenure are never far from Mark Orlando’s mind.“I wasn’t from there, and felt more at home in Louisiana than any other place I coached,” Orlando, now in his first season as offensive coordinator at Alabama State. “The reach out of the fans to the coaches and players was a great experience. I can see it’s still there. They’ve got a great program going.”
The return of Southern’s football program to its former prominence of competing for and winning Southwestern Athletic Conference championship is something Orlando can identify with.
At least for one weekend in October, Orlando hopes to spoil Southern’s run of success through the conference when Alabama State (2-3, 2-2 SWAC) hosts the Jaguars (2-2, 2-0) at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“I remember being part of that tradition, the Bayou Classic, the home crowds, the band,” Orlando said of Southern. “I always felt like in Baton Rouge with LSU and Southern, it was the college football capital of the world. It was an unbelievable energy of college football on a Saturday night in Baton Rouge.”
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