Southern University has started Spring practice, and Marshall Faulk is putting things into perspective in his first season with the team. Faulk is in his evaluation phase, as he looks to determine the starters for the team as they approach the Fall.
“We're going to know who one, two, three is when we get into the fall because I've seen that mistake be made,” Faulk said to media members after the first Spring practice. “You have to decide that someone is your guy, and then if number two beats him out beyond that, then it happens, but number one, he has to know he's number one.”
Faulk is leaning on competition to create a sense of urgency for his Jaguars team, emphasizing that what they did in the past doesn't indicate that they will get preferential treatment in the present.
“I expressed to the guys, I said, ‘Listen, if you are coming in here because of your Hudl film and you think that's you deserve to start, then you're in the wrong place. You can leave right now.' It's going to be all about competition.”
Faulk isn't hiding from the expectation on him to deliver in his first season with the team. He spoke about the learning curve he's embracing as a new head coach.
“I have to get better in this element… I'm a rookie. I'm a rookie again but in the field that I'm very familiar with… I've had some very good head coaches there, some good mentors, some guys that I can lean on and call.”
One of his advisers helping him in the process is tenured coach Fred McNair. McNair served as interim head coach for Southern following the dismissal of Terrence Graves and found immense success in the SWAC in his tenure at Alcorn. The Pro Football Hall of Famer was complimentary of McNair's knowledge and experience.
“He's been an integral part of just helping the staff develop understanding the nuances. The guy's been around the SWAC mostly all of his life; he understands the elements and what goes into winning a SWAC championship.”
But, overall, Marshall Faulk is embracing the challenge. He reemphasized his commitment to Southern to the reporters in the media availability, saying that he chose to take on the role with the Jaguars.
“The facts are the facts… I had other options. This option, and this being home and obviously Southern—I remember coming to camps that Coach Richardson had here—so being familiar with it and understanding the landscape.”
