Defensive Slate for Mississippi Valley Delta Devils Football

Mississippi Valley State University Delta Devils new head football coach Karl Morgan brings 21 years of coaching experience to Valley.

Miss. Valley tabs Morgan as coach

ITTA BENA, Miss. — Mississippi Valley State on Monday named Karl Morgan as its new head football coach. Morgan, a native of Houma and a former defensive line coach at both Nicholls State and Southern, spent the past five seasons as defensive coordinator at North Alabama. Morgan replaces Willie Totten, who stepped down Nov. 30 after eight seasons as the head coach of his alma mater. Morgan was introduced Monday on campus. A standout defensive lineman at Vandebilt Catholic and UCLA before playing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Oilers and the Saskatchewan Rough Riders, Morgan has 21 years of coaching experience, including stints as defensive line coach at Nicholls State, Southern, Purdue and Arkansas State and as defensive coordinator at Alcorn State, Hampton and North Alabama.

UNA was a Division II semifinalist in 2005 and 2008 and a quarterfinalist in 2006, 2007 and 2009. Morgan got his start in coaching as the head football coach at Central Catholic High in Morgan City from 1989 to 1992. After spending the 1994 season as the defensive line coach at Nicholls State, Morgan spent 1995 as the defensive line coach at Southern. That year, SU went 11-1 and won the black college national title.

Valley introduces new football coach

Mississippi Valley State University’s new football coach, Karl Morgan, has “experience, professionalism, discipline, energy and a demonstrated winning attitude,” Interim Athletic Director Donald Ray Sims said Monday. The selection of Morgan, the former defensive coordinator at the University of North Alabama, was announced at a press conference. Morgan, a 48-year-old Louisiana native, will replace Willie Totten, who resigned after eight years as head coach. Valley has had only 13 winning seasons in its 58-year history. Morgan said he actively pursued the position.

“I went after this job full of energy and excitement,” he said. “I heard about all the things about consolidation, scholarships and all that kind of stuff. It did not deter me. I saw potential and I saw opportunity here.” After cleaning out his office at North Alabama, he plans to return to Valley on Wednesday. He said he already had a prospective staff put together and plans to serve as defensive coordinator as well as head coach. “The staff has been put together for the most part, but everybody has to now get away from where they’re at,” he said. “Some are going to take some time, as far as two-week notices and all that kind of stuff.”

Morgan has 21 years of coaching experience including stints as defensive line coach at Nicholls State, Southern University, Purdue University and Arkansas State University. He has also served as defensive coordinator at Alcorn State University, Hampton University and North Alabama. North Alabama, an NCAA Division II program, was 55-10 during Morgan’s five years as defensive coordinator. This past season, his defense led the Gulf South Conference in scoring defense, total defense and passing defense.

Valley fans ready to support new football coach

Greenwood-area Mississippi Valley State fans are excited about their new coach, and most of them hope Karl Morgan will recruit the Mississippi Delta more heavily. Morgan, a 48-year-old Louisiana native, replaces Willie Totten, who resigned Nov. 30 after eight years as head coach. Valley had a 3-8 record this year this past season. It was the sixth losing season for Totten, who went 31-58 at the helm of his alma mater. Morgan spent the past five seasons as the defensive coordinator at North Alabama, one of the nation's top NCAA Division II programs. The Lions went 55-10 during Morgan's stint as defensive coordinator. This past season, Morgan's defense led the Gulf South Conference in scoring defense, total defense and passing defense.

Greenwood High School football coach and athletic director Clinton Gatewood, a former Valley player, is excited about meeting Morgan and learning how the new coach plans to turn things around in Itta Bena. "One of our former players, Leroy Collins, played under Morgan at North Alabama, and he loved him as a coach," Gatewood said. "I would love to see coach Morgan recruit the talent in the Delta a lot more because we have a host of talent in this area." Fred Ford, an assistant football coach at Amanda Elzy and a former player at Valley, believes his alma mater selected the right man for the job.

New hire embraces task

ITTA BENA, MS - Karl Morgan knows exactly what he's getting into as the new coach at Mississippi Valley State. He knows that the program can't fill the 63 scholarships allotted to Football Championship Subdivision teams. He knows Gov. Haley Barbour has proposed consolidating Valley and Alcorn State into Jackson State. He knows some of his assistant coaches will have to teach classes. Morgan, formerly the defensive coordinator at North Alabama, doesn't care about any of that.

"It wasn't a deterrent because I think I can be successful raising money," he said. "We're going to be proactive. We're going to hit everybody that we think has some money. If you ask, you can find. "We just need the basics so we can compete. There's a lot of things we need that we probably don't have. But there's not going to be any buyer's remorse. We're going to get it done." The first words out of Morgan's mouth after being introduced by interim athletic director Donald Sims were, "I want to be here." He needed the Valley faithful to understand that he actively pursued the job, looking for an edge by calling several contacts and even getting some help from his two sons to put together a PowerPoint presentation for his interview. A collegiate assistant coach since 1993, this is the head coaching opportunity Morgan has been looking for.

MVSU names new head football coach

Former UCLA standout Karl Morgan has been named the new head football coach at Mississippi Valley State. Morgan, who has served as defensive coordinator for NCAA Division II powerhouse North Alabama for the past five season, was announced as the man to replace MVSU legend Willie Totten on Tuesday. Totten, who starred as a quarterback for Valley during the 1980s, went 31-57 during his eight seasons as the head coach in Itta Bena. The Delta Devils were 3-8 last season. Morgan was defensive coordinator at Alcorn State in 2001 and also coached at Southern University in 1995. He played two years for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was captain of UCLA's 1983 Rose Bowl Championship team.

NOTE: Valley brought five candidates to the campus last week for interviews and public forums. In addition to Karl Morgan, the university interviewed Charlie Brown, ex-head coach at Savannah, Ga., High School; Sam Washington, Grambling State assistant and a former MVSU defensive coordinator; Richard Wilson, head coach at Arkansas Baptist; and L.C. Cole, head coach at Stillman College.

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Alabama A&M 17, Mississippi Valley State 12

A&M beats MVSU to advance to SWAC title game

HUNTSVILLE --- Ulysses Banks rushed for 160 yards and scored a touchdown to lead Alabama A&M to a 17-12 victory over Mississippi Valley State Saturday. With the win, A&M (7-4, 4-3) captured the Southwestern Athletic Conference's Eastern Division title and will play Prairie View in the championship game on Dec. 12 at Birmingham's Legion Field. MVSU ended the season 3-8 and 1-6.

MVSU finishes season with loss at Alabama A&M

NORMAL, Ala. — The Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils fought hard in their season-ending contest with the Alabama A&M Bulldogs, but fell 17-12 on the road at Louis Crews Stadium. Backup QB Eddie Ivory ended the day with 200 yards passing on 11-of-28 passing with a touchdown and an interception. Starting QB Anthony Bowie was knocked of the game early in the first half. The Devils got on the board late in the second quarter when Stephen Robert scored from two yards out capping a seven-play, 78-yard, 2:45 drive. At the intermission, AAMU led 17-6. MVSU put one final score on the board as Ivory found WR Chris Williams for a six-yard score with two seconds remaining in regulation. The point-after attempt failed.

Will this be Totten's last game at Valley?

Coach Willie Totten record - Eight Seasons: 31-56; Totten blamed the school's small budget and scholarship restrictions (39 compared to 63 for the other nine SWAC schools) in remarks he made to the The Greenwood Commonwealth newspaper.

Beleaguered Valley football coach Willie Totten will lead the Delta Devils into their season finale Saturday at Alabama A&M in what might be his last game at his alma mater. The Delta Devils enter the game at 3-6 overall, 1-5 in the Eastern Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Huntsville, Ala. The big question is will this be it for Totten. Speculation continues to swarm the Itta Bena campus about the future of Totten, who has just two winning seasons and a combined record of 31-56 in his eight years at Valley. Win or lose Saturday, his coaching fate has probably already been decided. Totten's current contract, which pays him $92,928 annually, expires Dec. 31.

PHOTO GALLERY: A&M vs. Mississippi Valley State Football

Attendance: 2,776@ Louis Crews Stadium, Huntsville, AL

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Grambling State 50, Mississippi Valley State 7

Grambling plays complete game in homecoming victory over Valley

GRAMBLING, LA -- Quarterback Greg Dillon was a threat through the air and on the ground, and the Grambling defense turned in a dominating performance as the Tigers beat Mississippi Valley State 50-7 on Saturday. Dillon was the driving force behind a GSU offense that piled up 446 yards of total offense. The Grambling defense matched Dillon's effort, holding the Delta Devils to 145 yards of total offense and just six first downs. Ari Johnson gave Grambling an early 6-0 lead with field goals from 22 and 33 yards out. Then Dillon went to work, finding Van Phillips for a nine-yard score and Larry Donnell for a 3-yard score that gave the Tigers a 19-0 lead with a minute to go before halftime.

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Healed up, Grambling quarterback Greg Dillon is looking like old self again

GRAMBLING, LA -- Now that's the Greg Dillon we've come to expect. Grambling's star quarterback -- plagued with turnover problems and injuries in the first half of the season -- returned to form on Saturday, accounting for four touchdowns in the Tigers 50-7 demolition of Mississippi Valley State. Dillon injured his ankle in a Week 4 loss to Oklahoma State, but after a bye week that allowed him to get back to full strength, he looked like the Greg Dillon of old -- the one who earned MVP honors in the 2008 Bayou Classic and the 2008 SWAC Championship game, and led the conference in passing efficiency.

GSU struggling in the red zone

Grambling is still learning how to finish drives. Even in its most recent win, at Alabama State, the Tigers had notable troubles scoring despite making it to the opponent's side of the field. "We've got to start putting points on the board," said Grambling coach Rod Broadway. "We're getting down there and kicking field goals. You can't win a lot of times kicking field goals from inside the 20-yard line. We've got to get that corrected." GSU has scored touchdowns on 13 of 24 trips inside the 20-yard line this season, settling for field goals 9 times, and turning the ball over twice. Back 10- or 15-yards further out, and the numbers nosedive.

Attendance: 10,425@Robinson Stadium, Grambling, LA

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Mississippi Valley 61, Texas College 6

MVSU Wins Homecoming

Paul Roberts threw five touchdown passes and Mississippi Valley State beat Texas College 61-6 on Saturday. Roberts passed for 329 yards and the Delta Devils (2-2) amassed 549 total yards of offense. Roberts, who is averaging 258 yards passing in the past three weeks, connected with Cameron Russ for touchdown passes of 4 and 23 yards in the first half. Stephen Robert scored on runs of 15 and 3 yards for the Delta Devils. MVSU had scored a total of 17 points in its first three games of the season. Texas College (0-4), an NAIA team, was led by X.Z. Bloodsaw, who scored on a 4-yard run. He was 20-for-32 for 137 yards and threw one interception.

Valley wins big

Mississippi Valley State got what it expected - and what it badly needed. MVSU saw its struggling offense finally get on track against a hapless Texas College team in a 61-6 homecoming victory in front of a sun-splashed crowd of 4,987 at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena Saturday. The Delta Devil offense had scored just 17 points in the team's first three games but found the going quite easy against the Steer defense, which came in allowing an average of 76 points a contest. Senior quarterback Paul Roberts carved up the Steers by completing 24-of-35 passes for 329 yards and five touchdowns with one interception in three quarters of play.

"We found some offensive continuity that we had been lacking, and that was good to see," Valley coach Willie Totten said. "Paul really played well and did a good job of distributing the ball." MVSU, which came in last in the SWAC in total offense and scoring offense, finished with 549 total yards. Totten knows things will get much tougher this week on the road against Alcorn, but he believes this win will be a confidence-booster for his guys."We can build off this. Hopefully, it will get us ready for Alcorn. That's a big game for us coming up," Totten said.Texas College, a NAIA team from Tyler, Texas, falls to 0-5 and has been outscored 348-12 so far this season.

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Chicago Football Classic: MVSU Delta Devils 10, Alabama State Hornet 3

Mississippi Valley tips Alabama State 10-3

Chris Mitchell's pass floated through the evening sky toward Robert Childers. There was no time left to play Saturday night, and an announced crowd of 46,000 for the 12th annual Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field collectively held its breath. Alabama State's Childers leaped high and got his hands on the ball. If he had come down with it, the Hornets could have sent the game to overtime. Instead, as the ball bounded away, Mississippi Valley State was a 10-3 winner in dramatic and improbable fashion.

The Delta Devils (1-2, 1-0 South Western Athletic Conference) had been outscored in their first two games 88-7. No wonder they charged the field and celebrated like they had just won a national title. "I couldn't watch the last drive," said Mississippi Valley quarterback Paul Roberts, who completed 20 of 34 passes for 210 yards and the game's lone touchdown. "One of my teammates standing next to me asked me what I was doing, and I said I didn't want to watch. After I heard my side cheering, that's when I knew it was good news."

Valley gets first win of the year

Paul Roberts threw for 210 yards and the game's only touchdown as Mississippi Valley State defeated Alabama State 10-3 here Saturday in the Chicago Football Classic. Roberts' 44-yard TD pass to Paul Cox with 9:53 remaining in the second quarter broke a 3-3 tie and gave the Delta Devils (1-2, 1-1 Southwestern Athletic) their first win of the season. Rahmod Traylor finished with 91 yards rushing for the Hornets (3-1, 0-1) who lost despite outgaining Mississippi Valley State 363-263 in offensive yards.

After the teams combined to score on three of their first five possessions, the game turned into a defensive struggle. Alabama state put together a solid drive in last two minutes, moving the ball 63 yards on nine plays, but Chris Mitchell's final pass fell incomplete and time ran out with the ball on Mississippi Valley State's 20-yard line.

Attendance: 42,600 @Soldier Field, Lake Forest, IL

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Midfield's Shackleford heading to Mississippi Valley

Birmingham, AL - Midfield linebacker James Shackleford, number 51 on your roster, has committed to Mississippi Valley State. A good student, the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder plans to major in chemistry. "I love the atmosphere and I think it's a great school," Shackleford said. "I see how they've made Birmingham a big focus of their recruiting."

Under Willie Totten, the SWAC school has turned Birmingham into a cornerstone of recruiting. During his official visit to the school, Shackleford met Erwin quarterback Anthony Bowie, another Mississippi Valley commitment.

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First-year Valley coach dealing with tough 0-14 start

The schedule was successful, raising about $550,000 in guaranteed payouts, almost twice as much as the previous record. But--at the cost of a 0-13 record for the Delta Devils and first year Coach Sean Woods.

The losses for Mississippi Valley State's first-year coach Sean Woods have come with such regularity, even he's having trouble keeping count. "I never thought my coaching career would start at 0-13," Woods said Monday during a presentation to the Greenwood Rotary Club. Actually, the Delta Devils' season-opening string of defeats ran to 14 Saturday, when Valley dropped its preseason SWAC opener to Arkansas Pine-Bluff.

Woods, who starred as a player at one of the nation's premier basketball powerhouses, the University of Kentucky, isn't used to such futility. "When you lose that many games in a row ... you forget how to win," Woods said. Woods, 38, inherited two major obstacles when he took over in July as the head coach, replacing James Green, who had moved on to Jacksonville State.

The cupboard of talent was fairly bare, with only three players returning from last year's SWAC championship squad, and not much time to replenish it. And he was handed a killer non-conference schedule - the third toughest in the nation, according to Woods. Except for the season-opener against Tennessee-Chattanooga, all of the other dozen non-conference games were played on the road.

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NEXT: The Delta Devils will host Alabama A&M at 7:30 p.m., Saturday

MVSU basketball falls to 0-11; SWAC schedule bailout needed

It took a while to chip off the rust from an 11-day layoff, but the Houston Cougars got things in gear and rolled to a 34-point win over Mississippi Valley State Saturday night at Hofheinz Pavilion, 92-58. The Delta Devils, who have yet to play a home game this season, ran out of gas in the second half to fall to 0-11. The Cougars stepped on the gas in the final 20 minutes, putting 59 points on the board to win their sixth straight game (now 6-1 on the season). lvin Lewis led the way with 23 points, but the star was big Marcus Cousin, who overpowered MVSU's relative runts inside for 18 points and nine rebounds.

You have to feel for the Delta Devils. Like many SWAC teams, they've been farmed out as a rent-a-win crew, playing teams like Arizona State, Washington State, Oklahoma, Arizona, James Madison, Creighton and Kentucky. Coach Sean Woods (MVSU), who was a late hire and didn't get to do much recruiting, deserves better. So do his players, who worked hard, but simply didn't have the horses to run with the Cougars.

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ASU 47, MVSU 7: Hornets gain 1st victory of season

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After opening the season with three straight losses, the Alabama State football team needed something to go right. Enter Mississippi Valley State: the cure for every strug­gling football program. The Hornets (1-3, 1-0 in the SWAC) turned in their most dominating performance in years, as they breezed to their first win, 47-7, at Cramton Bowl.

"(The first three weeks have) been rough on us," ASU head coach Reggie Barlow said. "We needed (this game) bad. We needed the good feelings. We needed the confidence. This was very good for us, very good for our offense." It was very bad for Valley. For three hours Thursday night, the Delta Devils provided a clin­ic on how not to play organized football. And ASU took full advan­tage.

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Homecoming Attendance: 7,783 (31.8%) at Cramton Bowl, Montgomery, AL (Capacity: 24,500).

MVSU Totten retools attack

After 3-8 season, coach changes offense to better suit quarterbacks' abilities

Following an off-season of change in Willie Totten's Mississippi Valley State program, the Delta Devils seem set on a quarterback who can lead their offense. For now. That honor belongs to junior Ryan Burciaga. But if last year - when the team started three different QBs because of injuries and ineptitude - is any precursor, who knows how that'll wind up.

For the former quarterback Totten, whose Delta Devils open with Texas College on Aug. 30, the uncertainty at that position is troubling. Especially when the talented Paul Roberts, anointed as the starter as a freshman last season, is now the third-stringer. "It's a challenge for him," Totten said. "Either way you want to stay third string or you push up to challenge as the starter." MVSU ranked dead-last in the SWAC in total offense last year.

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MVSU Delta Devils seek fresh start

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Last year, Steven Fulbright experienced the nightmare of any senior player who sweated through an entire offseason of work: He was injured, lost for the season with a ligament tear in his knee, on the first play of Mississippi Valley State's first game. So how did the defensive back deal with this crushing disappointment?

"Every game, I was in the press box writing down the plays," he said. "I learned more about the game and I just learned a lot being in the press box with the coaches, and learning the game from a higher point of view."

If anything gives Valley coach Willie Totten reason to believe his team can shake off its 3-8 season from a year ago and return to winning ways, it's players like Fulbright. He'll return, the recipient of a medical redshirt, with added knowledge about the game and a bunch of optimism, too.

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Hardin-Simmons basketball coach named MVSU assistant

ABILENE, TEXAS — Hardin-Simmons basketball coach Dylan Howard has resigned to become an assistant coach at Mississippi Valley State. Howard had a 78-103 record in seven seasons at Hardin-Simmons. The Cowboys had winning seasons each of the past four years and went to the American Southwest Conference tournament three of the past four years, reaching the finals in 2007.

The move was announced Monday.

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MVSU has finalists for basketball coach

ITTA BENA, Miss. (AP) -- Three finalist for head basketball coach at Mississippi Valley State are scheduled for campus visits June 11-12.

School officials said Thursday that the finalists are Texas Southern assistant Lacey Reynolds, a former head coach at Grambling State; Harvey Wardell, an assistant at Tougaloo College and a former MVSU assistant; and Sean Woods, a former assistant at TCU.

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New Jacksonville State basketball coach aims to build program with good citizens

JACKSONVILLE, AL - New Jacksonville State University men's basketball coach James Green promised to develop good players and good citizens as he was introduced to supporters and media on Wednesday. Green's contract at JSU will be for five years and is expected to pay approximately the same as the $106,000 paid LaPlante.

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Green, who also coached eight years at Southern Mississippi, becomes the first black head coach in a major sport at JSU and just the second in any sport there. He will also be the second black men's head coach in the Ohio Valley Conference, joining Cy Alexander of historically black Tennessee State University.

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