Southern football notebook: Dawson Odums opens up on why he hired Trei Oliver

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern football coach Dawson Odums has had his eyes on his new defensive coordinator, Trei Oliver, for a while.

“When I first got the job, I reached out to him,” Odums said.

That was back in 2012, but their relationship goes back farther than that.

The two were former college teammates and have spent time on the same coaching staff at North Carolina A&T, where Odums plucked Oliver from in January to take over the defense.

How was he able to do that?

“Money, money, money,” Odums quipped at last week’s SWAC media day.

Previously, Odums wore two hats as both the coach and the defensive coordinator, and it wasn’t working.

The Jaguars fired three defensive coaches in December, which Odums said helped create some financial wiggle room to hire Oliver.

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Hollins named new Golden Tigers baseball coach

Hollins, a Tuskegee alum, has been with the program as an assistant since 2010

TUSKEGEE, Alabama -- Tuskegee University athletic director Curtis Campbell announced the hiring of Reginald Hollins as the new head baseball coach for the Golden Tigers, replacing Montressa Kirby who's sole focus will now be on coaching quarterbacks for the Golden Tigers football program.

"Coach (Reginald) Hollins has been a part of the resurgence of baseball at Tuskegee University both as a player and a coach," Campbell said. "He has played an integral part of the success that the baseball program has had in the past several years, and I trust he will continue to do that as I know he will. He will also bring in good men of character and continue the tradition of Tuskegee baseball."

Hollins has been with the baseball program as an assistant coach since the 2010 season, helping the team to their first winning record in 13 years. The following year, the Golden Tigers claimed the NCAA Division II statistical championship for triples as they averaged 0.8 per game.

"I am just excited to fill such large shoes and embark on a journey with history already being set for the program," Hollins said. "I just want to continue and build on that; baseball was the first program on campus, and the pedigree that was built from all of the former players and coaches is history in itself."

After a sub-par 2012, the Golden Tigers rebounded by playing for the SIAC Championship for the first time in 24 years. The team made a second appearance in the championship game the following year, 2013.

During his run as assistant coach, the Golden Tigers had 11 players selected either to the all-conference, all-tournament or all-academic teams.

Hollins has served in multiple roles during his tenure with the baseball program.

No stranger to Tuskegee, Hollins was a pitcher and infielder for the Golden Tigers for four years. During his junior season of 2009, he led the team in batting average (.364), and finished second in hitting (.321) during his senior season. Hollins finished third in the nation as the toughest hitter to strikeout, 60th in triples and 14th in walks allowed by a pitcher per nine innings.

Hollins earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Tuskegee University in 2010.

"Being an alum and coming through the program, I have a sense of where the program is and was," Hollins said. "Just knowing what it takes to build a successful program, I am just excited for the opportunity to lead Tuskegee baseball."

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CIAA football shifting power

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Change has arrived for CIAA football.

The league has five new coaches and undergoing a shift in power from the South Division to the North, where Bowie State and Virginia Union both earned berths in the Division II playoffs last year. Three Southern Division schools are undergoing dramatic changes as cross-town rivals Shaw and St. Augustine’s reboot with new coaches and Fayetteville State turned to rival Winston-Salem for its new coach, Richard Hayes.

Here’s some of the storylines for 2016:

• Johnson C. Smith’s second year under coach Kermit Blount. The Golden Bulls (4-6) overcame a slow start with a three-game win streak that put them within a game of .500. The key to moving up the pecking order is more consistency on offense, which JCSU lacked last year with freshman quarterbacks Jordan Lane and Harold Herbin sharing the duties. Lane emerged from spring drills as the starter with a full practice period under offensive coordinator Tory Woodbury.

“The order is much quicker, much smoother,” sophomore center Jordan Shaw said during spring drills. “People know their assignment a whole lot more, studying the film. Everything is put together a lot better.”

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Green is Sugar Bowl's Louisiana college Coach of Year

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's Alan Green earned another award Monday when he was named Outstanding College Coach in Louisiana for 2015-16 by the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

The Sugar Bowl-sponsored Greater New Orleans Sports Awards Committee selected Green, who led XU men's tennis in May to second place at the NAIA's national tournament in Mobile, Ala. It was the first XU team in any sport to reach the championship round of an NAIA national tournament and the first XU men's team to advance past the quarterfinals. The Gold Rush were voted No. 2 in the postseason NAIA coaches poll.

"It's truly an honor to win this award considering the candidates and the sports," Green said. "I could not have done this without the help of my assistant and players on the team. My athletics director, SID and administration also played a key support role in all of our accomplishments this year. This is an award for Xavier."

On Friday the Gold Rush were named an NAIA Scholar-Team for producing a collective 3.03 GPA during the 2015-16 academic year.

Green and other recipients — including the winners of the Corbett Awards, which recognize the top male and female amateur athletes in the state — will be honored at the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Banquet Aug. 6 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

According to Sugar Bowl records, Green is the first from Xavier to win one of the annual awards.

"I am so glad to hear that news," said three-year XU letterman Tushar Mandlekar. "This season was really special and I would like to thank coach Green for all his help and support. He deserves this award because of the hard work he has put in on and off the court during all these years. Congratulations, coach!"

The Sugar Bowl award is Green's third this year. In May he was named ITA/NAIA Region IV Coach of the Year and ITA/NAIA National Coach of the Year. Green, who will enter his 14th season at Xavier in 2016-17, has received 12 awards for coaching XU's men and 10 for his work with the XU women's team.

Previous winners of Outstanding College Coach in Louisiana include five NCAA-champion coaches, including LSU's Les Miles and Paul Mainieri, and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame members such as Dale Brown of LSU and Eddie Robinson of Grambling.


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
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UMES wins appeal; Subritzky eligible for play in 16-17

PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland -- Moengaroa Subritzky was supposed to get several awards at a banquet hosted by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

During the 2015-16 season, Subritzky, 23, led the Hawks' women's basketball team in three-point percentage, three-pointer's made, steals and was an All-MEAC First Team selection. She was instrumental to the Hawks' success as a redshirt sophomore.

But when Subritzky stood up to collect her honors, her teammates told her no. They wouldn’t let Subritzky go up to accept her senior awards at The Harry’s, an annual awards event for all student-athletes at UMES.



“They were like, ‘What are you doing? Sit down,’ so I just sat down,” Subritzky recalled with a laugh.

Although Subritzky had just finished her second season in maroon and gray, the NCAA viewed her as a senior. But her teammates were optimistic. Subritzky and the school had submitted an appeal to the NCAA in an attempt to get her back one year of her eligibility.

The Hawks’ confidence paid off earlier this month.

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Fallen Baton Rouge officer was nephew of JSU QB great

JACKSON, Mississippi -- Fred Jackson, whose name is known by many football fans in Jackson, tweeted something Sunday that echoed in the hearts of many people.

"Montrell Jackson was a great young man, my nephew. A great father and husband. He will be missed by so many," the former Jackson State University standout wrote.

Fred Jackson, a native of Baton Rouge, played quarterback at Jackson State from 1968-1971, earning All-SWAC honors. He led the conference in passing his senior season.



Fred Jackson's son, Jeremy, played wide receiver at Michigan from 2010-13. His youngest son, Josh, plays quarterback at Virginia Tech. Josh Jackson's Tweet was one of the first to identify Montrell Jackson as one of the fallen.

Montrell Jackson was one of the Baton Rouge officers who was killed in the attack on police Sunday morning. He was 32, a new father, and someone who loved his community and took his 10 years with the Baton Rouge Police Department seriously. He was killed alongside fellow BRPD officer Matthew Gerald and East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Deputy Brad Garafola.

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Searching for a championship, Southern QB Austin Howard "poised for a major breakout year"

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern coach Dawson Odums did not mince any words when asked about the importance of junior quarterback Austin Howard, who was named to the preseason All-SWAC first team at last week’s media day.

“He’s the best in the conference,” Odums said. “Look at the numbers.”

The numbers present a pretty compelling case. Howard finished with the best passer efficiency in the league last season, at 155.8, while completing a SWAC-high 65.4 percent of his passes.

He finished the season with 16 touchdowns against four interceptions through the air and added another eight scores on the ground.

It was an impressive season, especially for a sophomore who has never benefited from spring practice as a college football player.

But there’s still one number that is missing when Odums looks at Howard’s résumé.

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