By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN, Advocate sportswriterTennessee State at Southern
WHEN: 6 p.m. today.
WHERE: A.W. Mumford Stadium (25,500).
TV: Tape-delay (3:30 p.m. Sunday, CST).
RADIO: KQXL-FM, 106.5.
RECORDS: Southern 3-0, Tennesee State 2-1.
LAST MEETING: Southern 19, Tennesee State 18, 1996.
SERIES: SU leads, 23-10-2.
The attrition to Southern University’s defensive line — losing five players for a variety of reasons in the offseason — didn’t change the way junior tackle Dwayne Charles was going to go about his business.
“I seized the moment,” Charles said. “It was my time to get out there and work hard to earn a spot. I didn’t want it just given to me. I didn’t want anybody saying anything. I wanted to earn everything I got.”
Charles had already spent the 2005 season away from any football field because he was a nonqualifier. And he was a backup with just 12 tackles in four games last season. So, really, if the other guy didn’t want it anymore, that had nothing to do with Charles, because he sure did.
Charles, who already has 13 tackles in three games, will try to continue to get better as Southern (3-0) hosts Tennessee State (2-1) at 6 p.m. today in A.W. Mumford Stadium.
“He fought to get in the position he is, and he’s taken advantage,” defensive coordinator Terrence Graves said. “He committed himself to the weight room in the winter, spring and summer. He’s like night and day from last fall to this fall.”
This is the way his father and mother raised him: You do things for yourself.
His father, Darrell, was a defensive end and tight end who had starred at St. Martinville High School and went on to Oklahoma University, which finished third in the nation in 1979 and won the ’80 Orange Bowl. After a knee injury derailed his football career, Darrell Charles returned to south Louisiana, married Ellena and started a family.
“I have those two to thank for everything,” Charles said.
From Darrell, who works offshore — 14 days on, 14 off — Dwayne learned this, “He never pushed me, even though I was always a big kid (and everyone knew Darrell as a football star). I was proud of him. He never forced me to play football. He told me, ‘Whatever I do, give it all I’ve got, and that will be my decision.’”
From Ellena, who is a custodian at a middle school, Dwayne learned this, “My mom always told me, ‘Never quit. Always go hard, you never know who’s watching. Leave it all out on the field.’”
Charles, who has an older sister and a younger brother, was always a big kid. He said he wasn’t comfortable following his dad’s path at St. Martinville.
Instead, Charles created his own at Lafayette High where three-sport athlete (football, basketball and track, where he was a top discus thrower). A team captain of both the football and track teams. A Class 5A All-State first-team selection at linebacker. A three-year starter playing offensive line, defensive end, defensive tackle and linebacker — with 88 tackles as a senior.
That’s why being a nonqualifier in 2005 and, thus, unable to play or even practice, was so hard and maybe made him work a little harder.
“I was just so happy my first year (playing last season),” Charles said. “I just wanted to be eligible, so I could contribute. I’d never had to sit out a year before. Just sitting out that year really got me focused. With my parents supporting me and coaches pushing me, I maintained the grades.”
Charles faced what most nonqualifiers face that first season: trying to get acclimated to the college game, both physically and mentally, while trying to get used to playing after a year away from football.
Graves said Charles had to get stronger and he had to get bigger at the same time. Charles was 250 pounds when he arrived as a true freshman and was up to 280 last season. Graves had recruited Charles to play on the defensive line, and the increase in size made going to tackle the natural choice.
“I never thought Dwayne would ever play linebacker, because in high school Dwayne was 250-to-255 pounds, but he was so athletic that they played him at middle linebacker,” Graves said. “So what you do is you recruit those type of guys and add 20-to-25 pounds and now you have a very athletic defensive lineman.”
Charles’ game, as that of many nonqualifers often does, zoomed in the spring. He had settled into one position. The time off the bench and being at practice and in the film room gave him a good feel. And the weight room made him stronger.
Making a difference, Charles said, was “getting in the weight room, conditioning, trying to get better every day, giving it all I’ve got for the defense, the team.”
Coaches took notice. A buzz developed.
“The kid who really played well in the spring was Charles. He really came on,” head coach Pete Richardson said.
This preseason camp, with tackles Alston Smith and Isaiah Thomas not returning for different reasons, Charles and veteran tackle Joseph Selders (14 tackles) started to develop a chemistry inside. That progress has continued.
“He’s a joy to have around in the program,” Graves said. “He and Joe Selders really work well together, push one another. He’s a natural leader by action.”
Charles, a business management major, said he’s planning on earning a fourth season of eligibility, getting back the season he lost.
“He’s a mature individual,” Richardson said. “He likes to play. He likes to play football.”
Southern University Human Jukebox Band
