Southern University football coach Dawson Odums proves to be the right choice

NEW ORLEANS  -- When Southern University athletic director William Broussard hired Dawson Odums as the Jaguars football coach in December of 2012, he got a tepid response from Southern fans, he said. Odums, who guided the Jaguars through the majority of the 2012 season as interim coach, didn’t move the meter much with one of the most engaged fan bases in FCS.

He had some things working against him, according to Southern faithful, primarily he wasn’t from Louisiana, was not a Jaguar and had never been a head coach at this level.

“I didn’t get a lot of attaboys, didn’t get a lot of high fives to be blunt about it,’’ Broussard said. “I’d say a solid majority of people had questions about the hire. I thought that response was unfair. I thought there were a lot of things both tangible and intangible about Dawson Odums. I thought he cut the profile of a young aspirant head coach who we’re catching at the front end of the success instead of the tail end.’’

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Grambling's stormy season comes to end Saturday

NEW ORLEANS  -- A season like no other at Grambling State University comes to a merciful end Saturday when the Tigers face their biggest rival in the annual Bayou Classic at the Louisiana Superdome.

Three head coaches in less than two months. Players refusing to take the field over allegations of neglected facilities and shoddy treatment. A nasty dispute between the administration and many of the alumni who helped make the school famous.

Good thing Eddie Robinson isn't around to see what has become of his beloved school.

BOYCOTT: Players provide shocking details

Certainly, nothing has come easy to Grambling in this year of discontent, casting an ominous light on the historically black school that holds a special place in college football history. Robinson won 408 games at the rural outpost in northern Louisiana, building a nationally known powerhouse during the days of Jim Crow.

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Palmetto State has 3 FCS teams in the playoffs

GREENVILLE, S.C.  — The Palmetto State has its share of top-notch football teams at the FCS level.

While the attention of most college football fans in the state will be centered on Saturday's matchup between No. 6 Clemson and No. 10 South Carolina, three state schools — Coastal Carolina, Furman and South Carolina State — will be playing in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

The South Carolina trio are the most of any state in the country.

"I think it's pretty remarkable for a state our size to have that representation," Furman coach Bruce Fowler said.

And at least one South Carolina entry will be moving into the round of 16: Fowler's Southern Conference co-champion Paladins (7-5) play at South Carolina State (9-3), which tied the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference crown this season.

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Alabama State football: Crowell's last stand? Junior back still weighing his options on entering NFL draft

MONTGOMERY, Alabama --  For 16 Alabama State seniors, today will mark the final game of their college careers when they take the field against Stillman College in the annual Turkey Day Classic.

The Hornets’ most prominent junior may be playing his last game as well, although Isaiah Crowell insists he has not made a final decision on whether to return for his senior season in 2014.

“I don’t know yet,” he said. “I’ll make that decision sometime in December, after the season. First, I have to sit down and talk to my family about it. I really don’t know right now.”

He may not be sure, but ASU head coach Reggie Barlow sounds as if he knows Crowell will pass on his final year to enter the 2014 NFL draft.



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Division II Notes: WSSU Rams aren’t home for the holiday

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina -- Coach Connell Maynor of WSSU doesn’t sweet-talk recruits about the holidays.

"I tell them you won’t be going home for Thanksgiving because we are in the playoffs, and we’ll be busy,” he said.

The Rams are in the playoffs for the third consecutive year, making this week like any other during the season.

Maynor said the Rams will have a short practice today, then meet as a team in the school cafeteria for a Thanksgiving dinner.

"We invite their parents if they want to come and eat with us,” Maynor said.

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Pough, staff busy focusing on how to beat Furman in playoffs

ORANGEBURG, North Carolina  -- The vibrant mood Monday morning at Rowe Hall around the South Carolina State coaches’ offices was in stark contrast to 12 months ago.

Coming off the program’s first losing season in 12 years, there was a quiet, somber atmosphere as head coach Buddy Pough looked to put the 2012 campaign to rest. The pending promised staff changes also made for an uncomfortable environment among the coaches.

“Last year at this time, I was in here meeting with coaches and trying to figure out how we got to where we were and what we need to do to fix some of our problems, that kind of stuff,” said Pough during Monday’s weekly press conference.



A year later, the only evaluations Pough was conducting were film study on the Co-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion Bulldogs’ first-round opponent in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. With Southern Conference co-champion Furman (7-5) visiting Willie Jeffries Field at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium this Saturday at 1 p.m., it was football business-as-usual for 25th-ranked S.C. State.

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WSSU Rams savor short-term switch to artificial turf

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina  -- There was a definite bounce in the steps of the Winston-Salem State Rams on Wednesday afternoon, and all it took was a change in venue.

Instead of practicing on the soggy, natural-grass practice field near Bowman Gray Stadium, the Rams had a spirited practice on the artificial FieldTurf of Wake Forest’s BB&T Field. That’s the same surface WSSU will play on Saturday at Shepherd (W.Va.) in the second round of the Division II playoffs.

"Getting to practice over here is huge for our preparation,” Coach Connell Maynor of WSSU said. “I talked with (Jim Grobe, Wake Forest’s football coach) earlier this season, and he said if we ever needed anything to give him a call. I called him last night, and it took about five minutes for him to make it happen. So we’re grateful, and we appreciate what Wake Forest has done for us.”

Quarterback Rudy Johnson and wide receiver Rashan Williams were ...

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