'Super athletic' defensive line excites GSU Tiger coaches

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- It’s too early in fall camp for any unit to etch an identity, but Grambling State defensive coordinator and defensive line coach Everett Todd believes he can already see the outline of the defensive line forming.

This season’s defensive front three or four can’t be asked to replicate the form of last year’s group or to produce the numbers they did. No team is the same. With several collegiate migrants filling up the populated defensive line for the Tigers in 2017, the group will take shape the more time the big guys up front play together.

“Last year we were big, we had really experienced players, we weren’t necessarily the most athletic team,” Todd said after Tuesday’s practice. “This team is more athletic with the size being very similar. Now it’s a matter of them gaining the experience, and I think as we progress through the season and they get game experience, they’ll do nothing but get better and better.

“There’s a couple of guys that have been in the program, but haven’t been on the field that are older, more mature guys. We have the maturity, we don’t necessarily have the game experience. We’ve added some new guys to the group that makes it super athletic. That’s what I’m excited about.”

The rain pushed the Tigers indoors for Tuesday morning’s practice, and the tight quarters gave Todd and head coach Broderick Fobbs a good chance to watch the defensive line and see how the newcomers look eight days into fall camp.

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'Chop Wood, Carry Water': Southern's winning motto in 2017

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- "Chop wood, carry water. Follow the process, Go Jags."

"Chop wood, carry water": Four words you'll hear every day on the field at Southern. It's the title of the book this team is reading together throughout camp that teaches the lessons of falling in love with the process of becoming great.

"Every day we go out there we are working to build something, to build a big team chemistry. We are focusing on going 1-0 everyday. Taking it one day at a time. That's what the book talks about, taking that single play and build it into a whole game," says senior defensive back Danny Johnson.

"I think it was chapter eight or nine. It was Mission vs. Goals. That stood out to me because I've been on a mission since I was a kid. Everything I do I want to be the greatest at, whether it's life or that book just teaches you to be the best person you can be because that made me look at myself as someone else. Not just Aaron Tiller the football player. But Aaron Tiller the man."

Now one hundred young men are answering that same question, learning more about themselves on and off the field and learning how they can help the Jaguars win this fall.

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Jake Gaither Classic to be 2017 season’s first game

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – An extra spotlight is going to shine on the inaugural Jake Gaither Classic.

Florida A&M announced Wednesday its Aug. 26 home matchup against Texas Southern in Tallahassee has been moved to a noon ET kickoff on ESPNU, which would make it the first Division I game of the 2017 season.

Florida A&M announced the non-conference FCS game in January, and only last month set a 6 p.m. kickoff for a classic that is named after its late College Football Hall of Fame coach. Since the game is occurring in “Week Zero” of the season – held the weekend prior to the traditional Thursday opening night that leads into Labor Day Weekend – NCAA by-laws require a national TV broadcast.

A source involved with the game told STATS it was given a noon kickoff on ESPNU. Later Wednesday, the Florida A&M sports information department confirmed the information.

Both teams had 4-7 records last season. Florida A&M is a member of the MEAC and Texas Southern plays in the SWAC – the two Division I conferences composed of historically black colleges and universities.

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After two years of injury frustration, Southern's Jamar Mitchell hopes his luck is starting to change

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Nobody at Southern has had worse luck in the past two years than Jamar Mitchell.

Early in 2015, Mitchell was projected to be a starter in the defensive backfield, but he pulled his left hamstring during preseason camp, keeping him out for the early part of the year and limiting him once he returned.

A year later, Mitchell was excited to get back on the field and show what he could do at full strength, and again he expected to fight for the starting spot. That is, until he pulled his right hamstring during preseason camp. Again, Mitchell missed time with a lingering strain.

“The toughest part was going through the whole year, spring and summer, and I’d be fine, and then I’d get to camp and have an injury,” Mitchell said.

It was eventually discovered that Mitchell had weak hips and hamstrings, so he was overcompensating in his movements. He was forced to make major changes — stretching more, switching to a new trainer, going to chiropractors and rehab. Anything to fix the problem.

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Grambling State keeps '11 SWAC championship

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- Grambling State’s 2011 Southwestern Athletic Conference football championship remains in place after all.

On Monday, the NCAA clarified the sanctions it nailed the school and athletic department with pertained to academic years 2012-13 through 2015-16, and did not include 2011-12 seasons. The governing body initially informed GSU July 28 that the football program would have to vacate the 2011 SWAC title amid several other compliance infractions, categorized as Level II the school self-reported through an internal investigation.

Grambling State athletic director Paul Bryant, who headed up the institution’s internal inquiry, said Wednesday that the misinterpretation of the sanctions was on the school’s part.

“Initially, when we did our review (of the penalties), we thought it was from 2009 to 2015, but the NCAA came back and said it was from 2012 to 2015,” Bryant said. “We don’t have to vacate (the 2011 SWAC championship) which is a blessing.

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Grambling, Alcorn State preseason favorites in the SWAC

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Grambling State opens the season as one of the favorites to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the program's players are all over the league's preseason All-Conference lists.

Grambling coach Broderick Fobbs didn't seem to mind the preseason love his program is receiving. He also wasn't particularly excited by it.

"I don't really think it matters," Fobbs said at SWAC Media Day in July. "We start at the starting line at the same place. Just because you finished first last year or you have all these kids on the All-Conference team, that means absolutely nothing.

"They don't give you a 10-yard head start."

Grambling had 14 players on the preseason All-Conference teams, including quarterback Devante Kincade, who returns after throwing for 3,022 yards, 31 touchdowns and just four interceptions. Running back Martez Carter also returns after running for 891 yards, 10 touchdowns and averaging 7.7 yards per carry.

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More mature Lyles has command of JSU offense

JACKSON, Mississippi -- When you watch JSU senior quarterback Brent Lyles operate during practice, he’s perpetually in charge.

Like a traffic cop, he’s making hand signals and calling out orders — making sure everyone is lined up and the right protection is in place.

Once the ball is snapped, he has good speed, runs to daylight and can make all the throws.

It’s part of the reason he’s considered the front-runner to win the starting quarterback job, despite the crowded depth chart at that position.

The competition is fierce, but Lyles, Jarrad Hayes, Jordan Williams and freshman Tavis Williams are apparently taking it in stride.

“Off the field, we’re a tight group of guys,” Lyles said. “I think we’ve all taken the approach of just ‘May the best man win.’ ”

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