In a move that shocked and perplexed the HBCU football world, Terrence Graves was fired as head coach of Southern University following his appearance on the SWAC Coaches Call and even filming his weekly coaches show. Despite Southern's 17-3 loss to Prairie View A&M and Southern University Athletic Director Roman Banks's rather intriguing post-game presser, many couldn't believe that Graves' dismissal was handled like this.
In Tuesday's presser following Graves's ouster and the promotion of Fred McNair as interim head coach, Banks looked to explain what went into his decision.
“You don't want to lose, but you can accept when you lose some games. But it's tough to look at it, and you have to find a solution when you're not feeling like you're competing for the entire game. That got us to this point.”
Banks quickly named McNair the head coach of the Jaguars, which puts a Band-Aid over many of the problems that Southern has faced this season. McNair does bring a wealth of experience to the position that could certainly make him a contender to become permanent head coach should he win some games to conclude the season.
McNair has led his teams to a 48-33 record. His Alcorn State squads were particularly dominant in 2018 and 2019, earning consecutive trips to the Celebration Bowl, although they lost to the North Carolina A&T Aggies. Overall, McNair's Braves have claimed four SWAC East titles. In his final season with the Braves in 2023, Alcorn State achieved a 7-4 overall record and went 6-2 in the SWAC. The team also boasted six All-SWAC selections, ranking third in the conference.
McNair was in line for the Texas Southern head coaching job that ultimately went to Cris Dishman. He departed Alcorn State to take the job, but he ultimately was out of the running. He then joined Southern University's staff under head coach Terrenace Graves, where he was promoted from QB Coach to co-offensive coordinator alongside Marion Fredricks. Now, he's taking the helm of the team.
MeNair was thankful for the opportunity and detailed that he had extensive conversations with Banks and the athletic department about what's expected.
“After having a meeting with them last night, it was very, very good. I felt very good with the response that we got from them during the course of practice last night. They was very energized and, you know, we just gonna continue to press on in terms of getting the young men upbeat and do what they have to do to win the next ball game.”
In McNair's first game at the helm of the program, Southern is set to face off against Florida A&M, another blue-blood SWAC program struggling this season. The game will kick off on Saturday at 5 PM EST.
