When it comes to running backs, Southern coach Stump Mitchell is so very particular. He is, in fact, awfully demanding of them. It didn’t take long for Gary Hollimon to figure that out. “One day, when we (were) in spring practice, we were working on routes. I was running a route, and I kept messing it up,” Hollimon recalled.The story is long, but here’s the short version: Hollimon, standing in the backfield, was supposed to run diagonally toward the sideline, then cut sharply toward the middle of the field. Only his cut wasn’t sharp. In fact, it wasn’t even a cut. “I rounded my route instead of sticking it,” Hollimon said. What, then, did Mitchell tell him? “You can’t print what he said,” Hollimon said, laughing. “The good version was that you have to plant and come out of your stick a little better.” So began a new era at Southern.
Fresh from an 11-year stint as an NFL running backs coach, Mitchell arrived at Southern seven months ago and joked that one of his new assistants, running backs coach Elvis Joseph, might have the toughest job of anyone on staff, because Mitchell will be watching closely.
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