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Southern assistant Graves leaving for Norfolk
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
jschiefelbein@theadvocate.com
Advocate sportswriter
Terrence Graves is leaving one home, the Southern University football team and a relationship with head coach Pete Richardson that's spanned 14 years, to return to his hometown.
Graves, Southern's defensive co-coordinator and linebackers coach, has agreed to become the defensive coordinator at Norfolk State, which hired former NSU quarterback Willie Gillus as head coach last week.
Graves, a Norfolk, Va., native who used to be a ballboy at NSU, starred for Richardson as a defensive back at Winston-Salem State and has been a mainstay on Richardson's staff, for the last nine of his 10 seasons at Southern.
Graves, who began his collegiate career playing at Wake Forest, has spent the last three seasons as defensive co-coordinator in addition to his roles as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator.
"It's an opportunity to grow, another challenge. It's a stepping stone," Graves said. "It's been a dream to coach at Norfolk. Most of my family and extended family grew up watching Norfolk. It will be good to put them back in front like they used to be. But it's going to be tough to leave. I've made a lot of life-long friends, and leaving coach Richardson is like leaving a father."
Graves originally came to Southern as a graduate assistant and has steadily worked his way up the ranks.
"He's matured a great deal as far as understanding the game and developing himself into a good coach," Richardson said. "He learned from the ground up and did a good job for us. He had a yearning to get back home, especially since his mom is not well."
Norfolk went 5-6 last season, 2-6 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Graves said Gillus, whom he knew since Gillus starred at Norfolk in the mid-1980s, and the two had always promised the other that, if one got a head-coaching job, he'd hire the other.
But, to Graves, "my mother was the deciding factor -- her health," he said. "My dad, when he was dying from lung and throat cancer, made me promise to take care of my mother. This is part of that promise.
"It's a win-win situation. But it's tough emotionally. Going to tell coach Richardson felt like walking to the electric chair, but he made it easy for me."
Southern finished seventh in the 10-team Southwestern Athletic Conference in total defense (343.6 yards per game), after leading in that category last season. The Jaguars were also second in pass defense (180.5 ypg), fifth in scoring defense (24.7 points per game) and ninth in rushing defense (163.1 ypg).
"Coach Lewis will probably end up being the defensive coordinator," Richardson said. "That's the way I usually operate: promoting within the system."
Richardson said he'd hire a linebackers coach next month. Lewis and Graves served as co-coordinators the last three seasons since Mike Vite, currently at Murray State, left.
"He's been with me awhile," Richardson said of Graves. "You hate to lose someone like him, because we brought him all the way through. But you like to see them go and grow. That's part of my responsibility. He's got that opportunity now. He's going to be a good coach."
While Lewis coached from the booth, Graves stayed on the field.
"He was a people guy," Richardson said. "The kids liked him and played hard for him."
Graves also served as Southern's recruiting coordinator. Losing Graves this late in the recruiting season should not be a detriment, Richardson said. With signing date approaching Feb. 5, most of the recruiting-season work is in its final stages. The Jaguars, who hosted 11 players over the weekend, got commitments from nine, bringing their commitment total to 11.
"We're in the final stages," Richardson said. "We've already graded the players."
DEFENSIVE END MACK TRANSFERS FROM OREGON: Richardson said defensive end Kevin Mack (6-foot-3, 238 pounds) has transferred from Oregon and is enrolled for this semester and will take part in spring practice.
Mack earned all-CIF Division IV honors at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, Calif. in 1998. He signed with Oregon but suffered a torn knee ligament which cost him his freshman season. Mack was then suspended from the team in May 2000 for violating team rules. He experienced limited playing time in 2001.
Keshan Fudge, a wide receiver from Louisville who transferred in the fall, and Erin Damond, a defensive back who transferred from LSU last spring, are also expected to participate in spring practice, which begins March 17.
NEWMAN LEAVES: Sophomore tailback Marques Newman has left the team, Richardson said. Newman, the Jaguars' second-best running back last season, ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns last season, his first with the team after missing his freshman year as a nonqualifier.
GREEN MAY RETURN: Senior offensive tackle Chad Green (6-5, 325) is on track to graduate in May and, in that event, would earn back another year of eligibility, Richardson said. With Green returning, Southern's only hole on the offensive line would be to replace first-team All-SWAC selection Gary Jenkins. Richardson said there was a possibility Jenkins could graduate and earn back another season.
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
jschiefelbein@theadvocate.com
Advocate sportswriter
Terrence Graves is leaving one home, the Southern University football team and a relationship with head coach Pete Richardson that's spanned 14 years, to return to his hometown.
Graves, Southern's defensive co-coordinator and linebackers coach, has agreed to become the defensive coordinator at Norfolk State, which hired former NSU quarterback Willie Gillus as head coach last week.
Graves, a Norfolk, Va., native who used to be a ballboy at NSU, starred for Richardson as a defensive back at Winston-Salem State and has been a mainstay on Richardson's staff, for the last nine of his 10 seasons at Southern.
Graves, who began his collegiate career playing at Wake Forest, has spent the last three seasons as defensive co-coordinator in addition to his roles as linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator.
"It's an opportunity to grow, another challenge. It's a stepping stone," Graves said. "It's been a dream to coach at Norfolk. Most of my family and extended family grew up watching Norfolk. It will be good to put them back in front like they used to be. But it's going to be tough to leave. I've made a lot of life-long friends, and leaving coach Richardson is like leaving a father."
Graves originally came to Southern as a graduate assistant and has steadily worked his way up the ranks.
"He's matured a great deal as far as understanding the game and developing himself into a good coach," Richardson said. "He learned from the ground up and did a good job for us. He had a yearning to get back home, especially since his mom is not well."
Norfolk went 5-6 last season, 2-6 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. Graves said Gillus, whom he knew since Gillus starred at Norfolk in the mid-1980s, and the two had always promised the other that, if one got a head-coaching job, he'd hire the other.
But, to Graves, "my mother was the deciding factor -- her health," he said. "My dad, when he was dying from lung and throat cancer, made me promise to take care of my mother. This is part of that promise.
"It's a win-win situation. But it's tough emotionally. Going to tell coach Richardson felt like walking to the electric chair, but he made it easy for me."
Southern finished seventh in the 10-team Southwestern Athletic Conference in total defense (343.6 yards per game), after leading in that category last season. The Jaguars were also second in pass defense (180.5 ypg), fifth in scoring defense (24.7 points per game) and ninth in rushing defense (163.1 ypg).
"Coach Lewis will probably end up being the defensive coordinator," Richardson said. "That's the way I usually operate: promoting within the system."
Richardson said he'd hire a linebackers coach next month. Lewis and Graves served as co-coordinators the last three seasons since Mike Vite, currently at Murray State, left.
"He's been with me awhile," Richardson said of Graves. "You hate to lose someone like him, because we brought him all the way through. But you like to see them go and grow. That's part of my responsibility. He's got that opportunity now. He's going to be a good coach."
While Lewis coached from the booth, Graves stayed on the field.
"He was a people guy," Richardson said. "The kids liked him and played hard for him."
Graves also served as Southern's recruiting coordinator. Losing Graves this late in the recruiting season should not be a detriment, Richardson said. With signing date approaching Feb. 5, most of the recruiting-season work is in its final stages. The Jaguars, who hosted 11 players over the weekend, got commitments from nine, bringing their commitment total to 11.
"We're in the final stages," Richardson said. "We've already graded the players."
DEFENSIVE END MACK TRANSFERS FROM OREGON: Richardson said defensive end Kevin Mack (6-foot-3, 238 pounds) has transferred from Oregon and is enrolled for this semester and will take part in spring practice.
Mack earned all-CIF Division IV honors at Rio Mesa High School in Oxnard, Calif. in 1998. He signed with Oregon but suffered a torn knee ligament which cost him his freshman season. Mack was then suspended from the team in May 2000 for violating team rules. He experienced limited playing time in 2001.
Keshan Fudge, a wide receiver from Louisville who transferred in the fall, and Erin Damond, a defensive back who transferred from LSU last spring, are also expected to participate in spring practice, which begins March 17.
NEWMAN LEAVES: Sophomore tailback Marques Newman has left the team, Richardson said. Newman, the Jaguars' second-best running back last season, ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns last season, his first with the team after missing his freshman year as a nonqualifier.
GREEN MAY RETURN: Senior offensive tackle Chad Green (6-5, 325) is on track to graduate in May and, in that event, would earn back another year of eligibility, Richardson said. With Green returning, Southern's only hole on the offensive line would be to replace first-team All-SWAC selection Gary Jenkins. Richardson said there was a possibility Jenkins could graduate and earn back another season.
