Move over, Lane Kiffin?
Former NFL Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk was also hired by a college program in Baton Rouge, La., over the weekend.
But not by the school that’s complicit in all kinds of disruption and consternation because of the coach it hired. That would be SEC power Louisiana State hiring Kiffin away from Mississippi.
This would be HBCU Southern University, which ended a nine-game losing streak with a season-ending victory over Grambling State in the rivals’ storied Bayou Classic on Saturday.
“Coach Faulk to take the reins. Welcome to Jaguar Nation,” Southern University athletics wrote in a post on X.
Faulk joins a growing roster of current and former HBCU coaches who enjoyed distinguished NFL careers.
In the last year, DeSean Jackson was hired by Delaware State and Michael Vick at Norfolk State. Sean Gilbert is the head coach at Livingston College.
Eddie George was the coach at Tennessee State, Greg Ellis at Texas College and Cris Dishman at Texas Southern. The tradition goes back to Super Bowl-winning quarterback Doug Williams coaching at Morehouse and Grambling.
Although Faulk, 52, doesn’t have a long resume as a coach, he makes up for it in accolades as a player.
Faulk, whose No. 28 jersey was retired by the Rams, was the NFL offensive rookie of the year, a three-time offensive player of the year, the 2000 MVP, a six-time All-Pro and a seven-time Pro Bowl pick.
He began coaching just this season, serving as running backs coach at Colorado under Deion Sanders — another coach who cut his teeth at an HBCU, Jackson State.
Faulk made it sound as if he wouldn’t have coached under just anyone.
“Let me say this in the nicest way: I’m not a regular dude,” he told ESPN. “If I’m going to work for somebody, or coach under somebody, it’s got to be somebody.”
And on Monday in his introductory press conference as head coach at Southern, it seems that Faulk wouldn’t have left Colorado for just anyone, either. He credited a couple of notable Southern alumni — “the catalyst of me being here” — with getting him to take the chance: his former teammate and fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams and former NBA standout and coach Avery Johnson, both in attendance.
They were happy to do their part, with Johnson thanking everyone who had a hand in the decision, later saying it is a “pivotal moment.”
“I graduated from Southern in 1988,” he said of New Orleans native Faulk, “and I have never been this excited about a football coach in the hiring of Marshall Faulk.”
For his part, Faulk nodded to what might have been. “I could have stayed at Colorado. I was comfortable. But I’ve never done well in life when comfortable. … And I’m not gonna lie to you,” he said, according to USA Today. “This is uncomfortable, and I like it.”
And he made a promise during the conference streamed live on Monday on YouTube by HBCU Gameday: “There’s no fear in me. Winners win.”
After five seasons with the Colts, Faulk helped lead the Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf” attack to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory in January 2000. The following season, Faulk was named NFL MVP.
Those were the St. Louis Rams. Faulk retired in 2005, long before the team returned to Los Angeles in 2015.
Williams noted that Faulk has more to offer than his own playing accolades, that he’s one of the smartest people he’s played with.
“He’s been taught by the best,” he said. “Many don’t know that when Marshall played at San Diego State that Coach Sean Payton was his offensive coordinator. He was mentored by Mike Martz, our head coach. … He’s a teacher.”
Williams continued: “He’s excited. I’m excited. And the Jaguar nation should be excited. … Southern is getting ready to move.”
Deputy Editor Dawn M. Burkes contributed to this report.
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