Following Southern University's 30-7 loss to Alabama State, Terrence Graves has promoted Fred McNair to the co-offensive coordinator position alongside Mark Frederick.
“(McNair will) be the play caller, coach Frederick will still be co-coordinator, and he'll still be implementing things as well,” Graves said in a press availability on Tuesday in a quote secured by The Advocate. “The reason why we're doing it is simply because he's a veteran coach, he's a championship coach, he's been an OC and he can add his wisdom and expertise to what we're doing to help ourselves out.”
Graves will certainly be a jolt to a Jaguar offense that has looked anemic in their first three games. Southern University has employed a heavy running attack built around talented running backs such as LSU transfer Tray, Holly and Jackson State transfer Cam'ron McCoy. But, against contending teams such as North Caroina Central and Alabama State, their bruising running game isn't enough to generate points.
Perhaps McNair, who has immense experience at the HBCU level, can help Southern find success. Over his seven-year career, 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. Now, he's receiving a promotion and calling plays on the offense in what could be a huge change for the Jaguar offense.
Southern plays Fresno State on Saturday at 10:30 PM EST.
