Southern University decided to fill their head football vacancy internally as they are reportedly elevating Terrence Graves to the position.

Graves wore multiple other hats for the Southern Jaguars this season. He was an assistant head coach, special teams coordinator, and linebackers coach. After the university fired former coach Eric Dooley, Graves took over in the interim. Dooley was let go after just two seasons, during which the Jaguars had a 12-10 record.

Southern University fired Dooley right before the end of the season following the Jaguars' 27-21 defeat at the hands of the Prairie View A&M Panthers. At 5-5, Southern hadn't beaten a team with a record over .500.

Graves was named the interim head coach for their final game: the Bayou Classic against Grambling State. Southern got the victory over Grambling as they triumphed 27-22 on national television.

Despite being his first head coaching position, Graves is more than qualified given his experience in the SWAC and HBCU football. Before his second stint at Southern, Graves was a linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Grambling State. He also held positions at Mississippi Valley State and Norfolk State. Graves had previously been at Southern for 15 years before going to MVSU in 2012.

Under head coach Pete Richardson, Graves orchestrated a defense that led the SWAC in total defense and scoring defense in 2001, and it led the NCAA in turnovers. Between 2005 and 2009, Graves was elevated from co-defensive coordinator to the full defensive coordinator. Graves' units wreaked having in the SWAC during his tenure. In 2007, Southern had a top 25 defense in the nation and led the SWAC in pass defense efficiency. Two years later, they led the SWAC in turnover margin and ranked as high as number two nationally.

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