Remembering: How ULM/Grambling happened

Nick's note: As Grambling prepares for its Saturday game against nearby Louisiana-Monroe, we take a look back at the two-year period leading up to this first-ever match up of programs located less than 40 miles -- but, when it came to football, worlds -- apart:

Grambling, ULM discuss gridiron clash
January 14, 2005

By Paul J. Letlow and Nick Deriso
sports@thenewsstar.com
Officials at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and Grambling State University have discussed a historic first meeting in football that could take place in the 2005 season.

ULM athletics director Bobby Staub said he stopped in Grambling on a recent drive from Dallas to visit with GSU vice president for finance Billy Owens.

The two discussed the potential of such a game, and conversation is ongoing.

"We've played them in other sports," Staub said. "I sat down with Billy three months ago to investigate the possibilities of playing

"The bottom line is that trying to find dates that work makes things problematic."

While both sides have been receptive, working out the scheduling matrix has proved to be an obstacle.

"The dates didn't work, but we agreed to stay in touch," Staub said.

Staub and new GSU athletics director Willie Jeffries have not met, but Jeffries said he spoke to ULM coach Charlie Weatherbie about playing as recently as Wednesday.

"We talked this week," said Jeffries, who arrived on campus Jan. 4. "We're looking into the game, and Monroe itself. We'd like to explore the willingness of the city's businesses to sponsor an event like this."

Owens said he is awaiting word from Jeffries on moving forward.

Although its philosophy involves scheduling more non-conference I-A home opponents, ULM has played host to Division I-AA teams from other Louisiana universities - Nicholls State, Northwestern State and McNeese State - in recent years.

Grambling State has played San Jose State and Louisville, both members of college football's top classification.

Staub said the game could be a box-office smash, long-missed at ULM.

"It's like the benefits of us and Louisiana Tech playing," Staub said. "It's a school 30 miles down the road. My bottom line is: Who can we bring in to energize the fan base, put fannies in the seats and generate revenue?"

Fans had a positive reaction, too: "The atmosphere would be electric and the rivalry could be extended beyond one game," said Grambling resident Paul Taylor, a fixture at GSU practices and games. "Not only could this be a classic game, but it would help ULM's bid to stay in I-A football with a sellout crowd."

GSU has been there before:

That 2003 visit to San Jose State - a market that has struggled to generate football attendance - helped the Trojans to their first sellout in 13 years. SJSU is a member of the Western Athletic Conference, along with Louisiana Tech.

The timing of these talks, even if an on-field meeting isn't arranged this year, is fortuitous.

In an interview with The News-Star published Sunday, University of Louisiana System president Sally Clausen said she would like to see ULM, GSU and Louisiana Tech compete against each other more often.

Meetings among the three have occurred only occasionally over the years.

ULM and Grambling have not played in men's basketball since the 1999-2000 season, while ULM and Tech have not played since 1990-91. Tech and Grambling have never played.

In women's basketball, ULM and Grambling played this season - but in a tournament in Mississippi. ULM and Tech have not played since 1998-99, while Tech and Grambling have never played.

In football, ULM and Tech last played in 2000.

Owens confirmed that GSU proposed playing on Oct. 17 or 24, but he said ULM couldn't make those dates. Switching Southwestern Athletic Conference games has sometimes been difficult for GSU, and could stall the proposal.

But if a date can be agreed upon, the next phase of the negotiations for a ULM-GSU match-up would involve compensation.

Grambling's budget depends heavily on checks from football games - away dates that often bring $200,000 above and beyond expenses, according to Owens. GSU would have to weigh the option of playing closer to home for a smaller paycheck, but with fewer expenses.

One solution could be a revenue-sharing plan contingent on ticket sales or attendance.

"I think it would be great if we could play," said Staub. "And hopefully we can work something out in the future."

Should the GSU game fall through, Staub said another I-AA team could fill a home date for the Indians in 2005.

"I've talked with a number of I-AA schools, including Grambling," Staub said. "We may look at a I-AA at home. If we can get a home and home with another I-A school, that may happen."

GSU meanwhile, is in a series of negotiations for games - including a possible trip back to San Jose.

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ULM vs. Grambling?!: Much obliged
Friday, January 14, 2005

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Thank you, Bobby Staub.

Thank you, Willie Jeffries.

Thanks for arriving here with open eyes and open hearts. To think, Louisiana-Monroe and Grambling State - just 37 mile markers apart down Interstate 20 - have never played football.

They could now, since ULM's Staub and GSU's Jeffries both say they are open to the idea. A game has been discussed for several weeks, with a date and financial considerations the lingering sticking points.

Both seem like small concerns after so much history has already been lost.

Imagine Heisman winner John David Crow coaching the Indians in 1975 against an Eddie Robinson team that included future Southwestern Athletic Conference Hall of Famers Doug Williams and Sammie White.

Grambling was founded in 1901; ULM followed 30 seasons later. All-time record on the gridiron: 0-0.

Imagine.

Apparently, nobody dared to question that before you guys, named athletics director at ULM and GSU in the past few months. Thank you.

This will inevitably lead to a discussion about the fading ULM rivalry with Louisiana Tech - if only because GSU would have to drive through Ruston to play the Indians.

But while the surface issues might seem the same - after all, is there a better way to spike revenue than with a local rivalry? - this proposal involving Grambling must inevitably have a different resonance.

ULM, whatever its actual racial makeup, is considered a primarily white institution. GSU is perhaps the nation's best-known historically black college.

Thirty-seven miles. Yet, so far apart.

But does that really mean they can't play football? No. At least, I hope not.

Looks like you guys, around football so long, think they should too.

Sure, people will always take sides in this game. But, at its best, that's not because anyone is white or black. Players of all races and religions are booed and cheered, benched and idolized.

Sports are a great equalizer. But you already know that. And I thank you for it.

Thanks for realizing that this dialogue, even if nothing has come of it just yet, is its own reconciliation for a town still shuddering from questions of race in a police shooting.

Jeffries, the first black coach of a Division I-A program, put things in perspective: "It's a football game, but it could be so much more."

Thanks for seeing that. For knowing it in your heart.

Now, there are stumbling blocks.

GSU has to have guaranteed money from its football schedule to float its budget, a situation that was complicated by the SWAC's decision to mandate nine conference games per season. Playing ULM must make financial sense.

Would GSU keep driving down the interstate, whatever the cash incentive, if it suffered a losing streak like Tech had against the Indians in the 1980s?

And what if, by some chance, the Indians lose to these Division I-AA Tigers?

"A game like this is a recruitment game, with the winner getting first dibs on prized Monroe recruits," said GSU fan Paul Taylor of Grambling. "It could mean an end to the coach at ULM if he loses."

Still, a possibility like this kindles so many larger hopes.

Can we make this work? Can we have fun doing it?

There are those Indians fans who might never venture to tiny Grambling to see the World Famed Tiger Marching Band. There are those GSU supporters who have never seen the wildly energetic coaching style of Indians coach Charlie Weatherbie.

They sit, in this conversation, not 37 miles apart … but side by side at Malone Stadium - as a community.

Thanks, most of all, for that.

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'Great for fans': Grambling to play ULM
First meeting for schools set for Nov. 10 at Malone
Sunday, February 18, 2007

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
The University of Louisiana at Monroe has never met Grambling State on the football field.

Until now.

The two area programs will play Nov. 10 for the first time ever, in a match scheduled for Malone Stadium in Monroe.

ULM athletics director Bobby Staub has confirmed contracts have been signed, though details of Grambling's payout were not released.

"Any time you get to play someone in close proximity, it's a benefit," Staub said. "We were able to work it out in a way that was good for both of us."

The ULM-Grambling game will mark the first between area schools since the Warhawks were crushed 42-19 at home by Louisiana Tech seven seasons ago. That series was played from 1953-2000, with an overall record of 29-14 in the Bulldogs' favor.

The Division I-AA Grambling, meanwhile, established a pattern of playing upper division opponents over the years — a run that includes Louisville, San Jose State, Washington State and the University of Houston since 2000 — but has yet to face either of northern Louisiana's I-A programs.

"It's something that could grow," said Grambling athletics director Troy Mathieu. "It's essentially a home game for each of us, and that's great for fans."

ULM and Grambling were nearing a contract to play in 2005, but Staub could not come to an agreement with former GSU athletics director Willie Jeffries. The Tigers ultimately scheduled Pac-10 foe Washington State, and a subsequent stumble at Seattle was their only loss in an 11-1 campaign two seasons ago.

"The fan interest has always been there," said Sicily Island native Michael Watson, a 1977 Grambling graduate. "Now, the two schools have finally decided to take advantage of this money-making opportunity. This will be an economic boost to the northeast Louisiana region. The civic and business leaders need to really put a cooperative effort into making this game a huge event."

The Nov. 10 playing date comes at a key time in the season for Grambling, which needed an out-of-conference opponent to keep from sitting out consecutive Saturdays before its in-state rivalry game against Southern in New Orleans.

"I like where it falls on the schedule, in terms of helping to keep our players focused for what could have been almost a month between games," Mathieu said.

The Warhawks opened their 2006 season at home with Alcorn State, which — like Grambling — is a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Thursday night game drew a season-high Malone Stadium crowd of 18,106.

Staub said the success of that contest had little impact in signing Grambling to play this year.

"We weren't looking for any one conference to play against," Staub said. "You just try your best to start close to home, and Grambling worked out. At the end of the day, you are trying to sell tickets — and we think Grambling will do that."

ULM opens this season with Tulsa at Malone Stadium and is scheduled to play nonconference games at Clemson and Texas A&M in September — along with a visit to Alabama in November. Grambling has already filled its other nonconference date in 2007 with the University of Pittsburgh in a game to be played Sept. 8.

The Warhawks also play three Sun Belt Conference games at home. GSU plays Alabama A&M, Mississippi Valley and Texas Southern at Robinson Stadium, then travels to play Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Jackson State, Alabama State and Alcorn State.

Grambling's annual games against Prairie View A&M and Southern are played at neutral sites.

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For fans, ULM-Grambling game well worth the wait
Sunday, February 18, 2007

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
Exuberant local fans are hailing a once-in-a-lifetime football game between ULM and Grambling.

The talk wasn't of a shared, but separate, history — but of bragging rights around town.

"At last! This game is long overdue," said Grambling supporter Michael Watson of Sicily Island. "I've been waiting on this game since my collegiate days in the mid-70s. We really used to run a lot of smack back and forth about a possible gridiron match up."

School officials have confirmed that ULM will play host to Grambling on Nov. 10, a first for the two teams.

"It could be an exciting opportunity for both programs," said ULM supporter Tim Holcomb, a News-Star fan blogger. "Regional match ups like this always seem to carry a little bit more emotion — and the large crowd that the two teams are likely to draw sure seems to make it a win-win for both schools."

ULM hit the gridiron for the first time in 1951, establishing a 225-333-8 overall record. Its 1994 move up to I-A followed a national championship six years earlier in the lower classification, when ULM was known as Northeast Louisiana.

Over that span, the Warhawks have won five league titles — four in the Southland (1983, '87, '90 and '92) and one in the Sun Belt (2005).

Famous ULM products include Super Bowl quarterback Stan Humphries. Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow also coached at the school for six seasons beginning in 1975.

For years, ULM's biggest regional rivalry was nearby Louisiana Tech, but that series has gone dormant since 2000. This is the second time school officials have contacted Grambling about an out-of-conference date; details couldn't be worked out before the 2005 season.

"I think it's a great idea," said Warhawks fan Chris Rightsell. "I think ULM and Louisiana Tech should follow suit."

Grambling got started much earlier than ULM, fielding its initial football squad in 1928.

Coach Eddie Robinson (1941-97) oversaw a Division I-record 408 of the historically black college's 484 all-time victories. No historical I-A program has a better winning percentage except Yale.

Along the way, GSU earned 21 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles. Seventeen came under Robinson, a coaching legend who sent hundreds of players into the NFL — including four Pro Football Hall of Famers and Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams, his eventual successor.

"Grambling's football achievements are well known, and the list of athletes it has produced over the years is equally impressive," Holcomb said. "For them, the match up with ULM offers the opportunity to evaluate themselves against I-A competition. For ULM, a game with Grambling would add another much-needed home game to our schedule."

Both schools have rosters dotted with local talent, creating still more intriguing storylines.

ULM signee Antron Mason, for instance, succeeded current Grambling starter Brandon Landers as quarterback at Carroll High in Monroe.

"I think that game happening for the first time ever is great," he said. "I've got some former teammates who play for Grambling — Jesse Smith, Desmond Lenard. It will be fun to play and fun to see."

Oddly, ULM and Grambling have faced off in other sports. They played a women's basketball game in 2004-05 and a men's contest in 1999-2000.

But never in football. That's made this game — even if the one-year contract is never renewed — an instant classic.

"Let's just say that the Warhawks better be ready for battle," Watson said. "We're gonna come to Malone Stadium to show y'all how to tailgate before and after a big victory!"

Remembering: Grambling enters period of turmoil

Nick's note: This was, of course, just the beginning of a remarkable period of change for Grambling at the dawn of the administration of school president Horace Judson (pictured at right). In the four years that followed, Grambling would see Willie Jeffries come and go as athletics director, followed by an interim and then Troy Mathieu. Spears would be let go in 2006 and replaced by Rod Broadway. Then, in a series of shattering losses over an eight-month period, Grambling would mark the passings of seminal legends Collie J. Nicholson (September 2006) -- who is extensively quoted in the following piece -- then Ernie Ladd (March 2007) and Eddie Robinson (April 2007).

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Back to earth
The good ol' days of steadiness in the GSU athletics department are over.
July 12, 2004

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING - Will Grambling State ever again see the bedrock stability it once knew?

Not in today's topsy-turvy world, said Collie J. Nicholson, the sports information director at GSU for 30 years, beginning in 1948.

But even Nicholson is taken back by 2004's evolving situation. "There have been changes made over the years," he said, "but not to this degree."

A year ago, fans of the Grambling State football program were still savoring a third consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference championship.

The Tigers didn't add a fourth - finishing with a respectable nine wins, but still one game short of the 2003 SWAC title game in Birmingham.

A year ago, Michael Roach, coordinator for each of those championship teams, was running GSU's defense. One game into the 2003 season, he resigned - citing personal and family concerns.

A year ago, receiver Tramon Douglas had just broken future Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice's conference record for receiving yards. An off-season injury would so alter his senior season that Douglas would go undrafted by the NFL.

Heishma Northern, in his sixth season at Grambling as coach of defensive backs and special teams, took over for Roach. Defensive line coach Gabe Northern, in his third season with the Tigers, handled the linebackers last season.

But as 2004 dawned, Heishma Northern was not asked to continue as defensive coordinator. Gabe Northern was fired.

Coach Doug Williams, the architect of GSU's first SWAC titles and first winning seasons since 1994, hired Tom Lavigne as defensive coordinator - but would resign his post before Lavigne took over. Williams is now with the NFL's Tampa Bay franchise.

Lavigne, a GSU graduate, was subsequently fired by interim head coach Melvin Spears, Williams' long-time offensive coordinator and assistant head coach.

A year ago, Albert Dennis III - a former player whose father was also one of Robinson's first team captains - was the athletics director. He had overseen three conference titles in football, the completion of a new baseball facility and the groundbreaking on a basketball gym.

But, after the University of Louisiana System board hired Horace Judson as new president for GSU, Judson fired Dennis on his first official day in office.

Then, an item on Spears' resume came into question - a situation that was apparently resolved after a trip to Northern Arizona University over the weekend.

All of this turbulence seems particularly noteworthy when placed alongside a bit of relevant trivia: Williams was just the second GSU coach since Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency.

Eddie Robinson had earned 408 career victories from 1941 through 1997, setting an all-time record for wins that would stand until last season - and he did it all at this country school, located in the hills of western Lincoln Parish.

Williams, his replacement, would coach for 51 fewer years at Grambling. A school that was the very model of stability has apparently caught up with the times.

"I don't think it will ever be as stable as it used to be," Nicholson said. "Things have changed to such a degree, that I think this is the norm nowadays."

Questions about a master's degree from Northern Arizona prompted Spears to travel to Flagstaff to resolve the issue over the weekend. A dean there confirmed to The News-Star on Friday that Spears had completed the required courses, but still needed to finish minor paperwork to receive his degree. His transcript was expected to be updated early this week.

"Really it's a question of having a degree posted, not having completed the degree requirements," said William Wright, chair of the department of research, foundations and leadership - in which Spears studied at Northern Arizona from 1993 until taking job with Williams before then 1998 season.

But that still leaves the question of who will be athletics director at Grambling State - and what all of this has done to a team that some expected to return to championship form in 2004.

"My first concern," said Williams, upon hearing that Spears' resume was under review, "is for those players. I pray for them."

So far, the team has tried to carry on as usual, said senior linebacker Kenneth Pettway.

"When it involves your coach, it's going to be on the players' mind all the time," Pettway said. "He comes in every morning, then to every workout every evening. He's in his office if you need someone to talk to. Then, when there comes a time that he might not be there, it's difficult for the team."

Judson hasn't officially addressed the AD situation since asking Dennis to step down more than a week ago.

While the school rebounded in football during Dennis' tenure, Grambling State hasn't captured the SWAC Commissioner's Cup, an all-sports trophy, since 1997-98 - the last year before Dennis took over for Robert Piper.

Left unfinished is an away game against Mississippi Valley, which outside promoters hoped to move from Itta Bena, Miss., to Chicago's Soldier Field. Dennis said just days before he was fired that GSU had still not completed negotiations on moving that contest.

Then, there is the opening for a defensive coordinator. Spears was reviewing applications before questions about his resume had him on a plane to Arizona.

"I've got applications coming in, but the administration hasn't signed off on the new job description for the position. Until that point, we are not ready to comment," he said last week. "A bunch of guys have sent resumes. Quite naturally, you're talking about Grambling, so a lot of people are going to be interested."

Despite such upheaval, GSU assistant Mark Hall still leads the team in a tough but reliable regimen of weights and summertime conditioning. Players say there's nothing more that can be done, during this off-season of change.

"It must be very difficult for them to understand that these problems are off the field," said Nicholson, major architect of the legendary Bayou Classic. "But they can still make Grambling proud."

A year ago, the path didn't seem so rocky. But Pettway says that doesn't mean the team is confused about what's ahead.

"As a team we came together and had a meeting," said Pettway, a 2003 transfer from Southern Arkansas who was this past spring's most impressive performer. "Our workout stayed intense. We still show up for running every day. Even though things are going on around the team, our goal remains the same: To win the championship. We are staying focused, even though things are going on."

On Grambling AD Troy Mathieu

GSU's AD search is stealthy
School won't name any candidates for job
April 9, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Grambling State has fastened a tight lid on its second search for an athletics director in as many years.

"We'd like to keep it confidential," said interim Grambling AD Duer Sharp, "until (GSU president) Dr. (Horace) Judson is ready to announce. We'd just like it keep it as private as possible."

Calls to Judson this week were not returned.

Since July 1, 2004, Judson's first day in office, Grambling has had a non-interim athletics director for just 308 days. That in turn has led to extended periods where positions underneath the AD are unfilled, including the critical position of compliance officer.

Judson fired former athletics director Al Dennis III on that first day as president in 2004. Former longtime South Carolina State coach Willie Jeffries didn't assume the AD job until Jan. 3, 2005 — and had resigned by Oct. 31.

Sharp, who then took over as interim, said Grambling has no plans to reveal when candidates are interviewed, or who the finalists are, in advance of making a hire.

"I don't think we'll announce anything," he said. "That's not a route we'd like to go."

Sharp, associate commissioner for the Southwestern Athletic Conference, is an executive on loan under a management-assistance agreement approved by the University of Louisiana System board in late October.

GSU posted the job opening for athletics director on Nov. 7, but didn't begin interviewing candidates until after the new year.

Sharp said the hiring process was slowed both by Jeffries' contract, which extended through Jan. 3, and questions over budget cuts on the state level in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Still, a void in leadership likely led to an ongoing NCAA investigation into the school, which began in January.

It's become a source of grave concern to GSU alumni, who insist that the process ought to be moving more quickly.

"They need to speed it up. Jackson State fired their coach and had a whole staff in place a few weeks later," said Ezzard Burton, who attended GSU in the mid-1970s and is active in the Monroe/Ouachita chapter of the Grambling University National Alumni Association.

"I'm not speaking to the alumni association as a whole, but I've talked to a number of people," Burton said. "I've been in Monroe for 23 years and worked with the alumni association for 19 of them. We challenge the administration to get these things in place. I'm for this president, but he needs to get in a hurry."

Sharp has said that Judson and vice president for finance Billy Owens contacted SWAC commissioner Robert Vowels with this unique interim proposal. He also said he intended to return to the conference office and would not apply to be the permanent replacement.

Finalists in the search that ended with Jeffries' hiring included: Troy Mathieu, assistant superintendent for athletics for the Dallas Independent School District; Clarence Underwood, who served as assistant athletics director, senior associate AD and then AD at Michigan State between 1990-2001; and Wilbert Curtis Williams, former athletics director at Alabama State.

The University of Louisiana System board's joint athletic and finance committee originally approved a $90,000 salary for Jeffries.

Sharp said the school has received "between 30 and 40 applications" for the position. He described the process as being in its "middle stages."

"Before you bring somebody on campus, you want to do background checks, and talk to references and others not on the reference page," Sharp said. "The hardest thing is finding a timeline. There are so many things going on, and fitting the schedules of the candidate, mine and Dr. Judson can be a problem."

Dennis replaced Robert Piper, who took over in 1997 as athletics director only to step down three years later when he fell ill with stomach cancer. Dennis then served for 2½ years as the assistant athletics director for business affairs before taking over as interim AD in 2000.

Legendary former coaches Eddie Robinson and Fred Hobdy, along with former president R.W.E. Jones, have also served as GSU athletics directors over the years.

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Top of his class
April 11, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
The best candidate for Grambling State's athletics director job has already applied once: Troy Mathieu, the superintendent for athletics at the Dallas Independent School District.

He was a finalist in the 2004 search that led to the hiring of longtime former South Carolina State coach Willie Jeffries, who resigned less than a year in.

Mathieu is in charge of a 19-person department in inner-city Dallas with a 2005 budget of $4.7 million that's similar to GSU's total operating sports revenues of $5.5 million from 2004, the most recent numbers available. The DISD, our nation's 12th largest school district, serves more than 160,000 students over 351 square miles.

That means Mathieu is familiar with succeeding within a power structure like Division I football where black colleges are sometimes relegated to outsider status.

Better still, before moving to Dallas, Mathieu was executive director of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, a job he took over at age 29 and held as the only African-American in high-level bowl management for years. There, he oversaw the beginning of a successful corporate relationship with Nokia.

So he knows how to sell it. Personable, energetic, connected, well-seasoned but still emerging as a leader, Mathieu is the person that Grambling should have hired in the first place two years ago.

GSU has a chance to rectify that now.

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GSU's seach nets finalists
Each finalist would bring major experience to vacant position
April 23, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Three finalists have emerged in Grambling State's six-month-old search for an athletics director.

They are: Grambling product Patrick Carter, athletics director at Alabama State; Troy Mathieu, athletics director for the Dallas Independent School District; and Vivian Fuller, who has experience as an AD at three Division I programs.

Interim GSU athletics director Duer Sharp had no comment on the candidates, other than to confirm their names. A timeline for hiring has also not been set, Sharp said.

Any decision by Grambling president Horace Judson must then be approved by the University of Louisiana System board, which oversees the university.

The athletics director at Grambling would work on a total operating sports revenues of upwards of $5.5 million, according to GSU's 2004 budget, the most recent numbers available.

Several critical hires must also be made quickly, including senior women's administrator, sports information director and women's soccer coach. A number of other current coaches, including those in men's and women's basketball, are working without contracts.

Grambling hasn't had an AD since October, when Willie Jeffries stepped down less than a year after taking over. Sharp — an assistant commissioner in GSU's home league, the Southwestern Athletic Conference — has been filling the role in the meantime.

There has been in recent days a significant alumni push for Carter, a Grambling native who holds a 1985 bachelor's and 1989 master's from GSU.

He has served as athletics director at Alabama State, a competitor in the SWAC, since March 2004. There, he administers an $8.5 million budget. Carter's resume material has said that he increased corporate sponsorships at ASU by 100 percent.

He also possesses critical experience in compliance, notable in the wake of an NCAA probe opened at Grambling earlier this year.

Carter was involved in different compliance roles with the SWAC from March 1997 until taking over in Alabama. Earlier, he served as an assistant commissioner involved with compliance with the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association — an NCAA Division II conference of twelve historically African-American institutions — from August 1991 to March 1997.

Fuller holds a distinct place in history, becoming in 1997 the first black woman to run a Division I athletics department with a football program — and one of only a handful of women ever. But she remained at Tennessee State for just two seasons, despite winning a conference championship on the gridiron.

Fuller later filed a lawsuit against TSU, that state's only predominantly African-American public university, saying she was dismissed for aggressively seeking to protect women's sports. Her replacement was later fired after the NCAA placed Tennessee State on three years probation for a myriad of violations.

Fuller has since worked as an athletics director at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. She previously served as AD at Northeastern Illinois University of Chicago, associate athletics director at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and assistant director of athletics at North Carolina A&T.

Fuller earned a bachelor's from Fayetteville State in 1977, a master's at Idaho in 1978 and a doctorate from Iowa State in 1985. She was a track athlete at Fayetteville and served as volleyball and softball coach at A&T in the early 1980s.

Through Mathieu has run a high-school program since 1997, his inner-city district is surprisingly robust.

He's in charge of a 19-person department with a 2005 budget of $4.7 million, similar in size to GSU's. The DISD, the nation's 12th largest school district, serves more than 160,000 students over 351 square miles — and has produced several Grambling prospects, including breakout receiver LaKeldrick "Burner" Bridges. Mathieu has overseen more than $50 million in facility improvements and construction while with the DISD, and negotiated multi-million sponsorships deals with Coca-Cola and Bally Total Fitness.

Before moving to Dallas, Mathieu was executive director of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, a job he took over in 1993 at age 29 and held as the only black person in high-level bowl management for years. There, he negotiated the successful longtime corporate relationship with Nokia, a $30 million deal.

He holds a 1987 master's degree from Western Illinois and a 1983 bachelor's — which he reportedly completed in just three years — from McNeese State.

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GSU's AD dilemma more complex with strong finalists
April 24, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Interviewers evaluating Grambling State's final trio of candidates for athletics director did so with the aid of a rating sheet.

Grades — on a scale of "5=UNSATISFACTORY" to "1=OUTSTANDING" — were to be given to each applicant on salient qualities like self-confidence, planning and organizational ability, and leadership.

All standard items in a good manager's toolbox.

The question of experience, however, is where a decision on who will be GSU's sixth athletics director becomes more complicated.

Grambling has whittled its six-month AD search down to three options — Patrick Carter, Troy Mathieu and Vivian Fuller — after considering as many as 40 applications.

Fuller might be considered the early frontrunner, if only because she grades well on experience in the broadest sense. She has served as athletics director at three college institutions over the years.

Carter, on the other hand, got his first AD job at Alabama State in 2004, after serving in a variety of capacities in conference front offices previous to that. Mathieu, AD for the Dallas Independent School District, has never worked as an administrator at the collegiate level.

Still, Fuller could meet resistance as a pioneering woman's administrator.

There were no female athletics directors last season in GSU's Southwestern Athletic Conference. Too, with the firing this month of Texas Southern's Priscilla Slade, that leaves just one woman on the SWAC Council of Presidents, Alabama A&M's Virginia Caples.

Fuller might answer that she's been there before: Upon taking over as AD at Tennessee State in 1997, she became the first black woman to run a Division I athletics department with a football program — and one of only a handful of women ever.

Carter, on the other hand, is attractive because of a more nuanced kind of experience: He has deep ties with the SWAC.

As a Grambling native, a GSU graduate, an athletics director inside the school's home conference, and a long-time former employee in its league offices, Carter is intimately familiar with the unique atmosphere surrounding the department.

He would be able to sell the school's brilliant legacy because he grew up around it.

That time spent at the conference level is notable, too, since it was primarily in the area of compliance. Grambling is awaiting word on an investigation that the NCAA opened last January.

Granted, most of the possible sins could end up being those of omission rather than commission: In the nearly two years since July 1, 2004, the school has either had a vacant AD chair or an interim for all but 313 days.

It couldn't hurt, though, to bring in a guy like Carter — who grades well after working in enforcement capacities at the 12-member Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and then the SWAC for nearly 15 years before taking over at ASU.

The question is: Can Carter bag the corporate whale?

For his part, Mathieu possesses critical experience in negotiating and managing lucrative corporate sponsorships and national events. Before accepting the position at DISD in 1997, he was executive director of the Sugar Bowl, one of the college football's most profitable postseason games.

In the late 1990s, the event's budget ran to more than $18 million annually. The organization's television contract with ABC was a $60-million deal. The previous sponsorship with Nokia brought in millions more.

Mathieu could revive corporate sponsorship deals that have been harder to come by since the departure of legendary coach Eddie Robinson — dollars that would permeate the entire university's budget. Mathieu has walked into multi-national business offices and emerged with checks that included seven zeroes at the end.

Yet there will be those who question whether he can run a college department, even though the DISD is comparable in staff and budget to athletic programs in the SWAC.

No easy choice, this.

Fuller, with perhaps the deepest administrative resume, is a groundbreaker in the mode of former AD Willie Jeffries. Carter, the most intimately familiar applicant, might make the easiest transition. Mathieu, the brilliant moneyman, might be the greatest risk — but with an even greater financial reward.

Checking the appropriate score, I'd give Grambling's difficulty level in making this decision a "1=OUTSTANDING."

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Grambling State AD search, yes, is still ongoing
May 15, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — A trio of finalists in Grambling State's ongoing search for an athletics director was announced three weeks ago.

Yet there's still no progress to report on filling the position, said interim Grambling AD Duer Sharp.

"It's in (GSU president) Dr. (Horace) Judson's hands," said Sharp. "He's the president. I move when he tells me to move."

Sharp could give no timeline for a decision, saying: "He'll make an offer, and then negotiations will begin."

Waiting since the April 23 announcement are Grambling product Patrick Carter, athletics director at Alabama State; Troy Mathieu, athletics director for the Dallas Independent School District; and Vivian Fuller, who has experience as an AD at three Division I programs.

Well, and some increasingly edgy supporters, too.

"I think it's quite ridiculous that it has taken the administration of GSU this length of time to locate a proper athletic director," said Grambling native Mark A. Hunter, a lobbyist who graduated in 1996 with a degree in political science. "So far, three names have surfaced, yet the GSU administration knew that the former director would not be at Grambling for more than a year."

Former AD Willie Jeffries signed a contract to run through January 2006, but resigned just 10 months later. The position has since been filled on an interim basis by Sharp, a loaned executive from GSU's home league, the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Prior to that, Grambling had no athletics director in place from July 1, 2004, when Judson fired Al Dennis III in one of his first acts as new school president, until Jeffries took over. Some have suggested that the lack of institutional control led to an NCAA investigation of the school that opened in January.

"The administration was excited about the candidates early on, and I thought that the search would have been completed by now," said Grambling alum Autry "Lex" Alexis, CEO of a marketing firm. "I'm sure that the ongoing NCAA investigation and the threat of more budget cuts has had an impact on the process, as well as the candidates."

As the AD search has dragged on, talk turned to an alleged breakdown in negotiations for one or more of the finalists. Rumors, and at least one poll, began to circulate.

Fans at GramblingStateUniversity, as of Sunday, were solidly behind Carter — who garnered 87.5 percent of the vote in polling that began the day after GSU released the finalists' names.
Alexis has thrown his support behind Carter, as well.

"He would be my favorite because his strength is in compliance and that is a serious problem at GSU," Alexis said. "He also is an underrated fundraiser."

The prevailing theory from e-mails, message boards and street-committee gossip was that Mathieu had been offered the job, but that contract talks soured over money. There was even a rumor on campus that the search was on the verge of opening again.

Sharp denied that this week. Mathieu, in fact, said he had not spoken to anyone from Grambling in weeks. Carter and Fuller were unavailable for comment.

Supporters say the inexplicably long wait is fueling this widespread speculation.

"Grambling really needs to develop a faster method of locating qualified candidates and placing them in these positions," Hunter said, "so that the university can move forward to more pertinent issues at hand."

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Grambling job brings Mathieu home
May 24, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — For Troy Mathieu, the Grambling State athletics director job was a chance to get back home.

An Edgard native, Mathieu worked as an executive with the Sugar Bowl for a decade before taking over as AD at the Dallas Independent School District. He was chosen late Tuesday after a six-month search that produced a trio of finalists.

"It's a chance to continue doing what I like to do, working in the business of athletics," Mathieu told The News-Star on Tuesday afternoon. "I'll work to get all of the programs as competitive as we can possibly get them."

He will be recommended for the position by school president Horace Judson later this week at a meeting of the University of Louisiana System board, which oversees Grambling.

"I fully support Dr. Judson's recommendation," said 1990 GSU graduate Kenn Rashad, a Dallas resident familiar with his work in the local school district. "I think Mr. Mathieu is just the boost that the athletic program needs."

Grambling hasn't had an athletics director since October, when Willie Jeffries stepped down less than a year after taking over. Duer Sharp — an assistant commissioner in GSU's home league, the Southwestern Athletic Conference — has been serving as interim ever since.

The other finalists for the position were Grambling product Patrick Carter, athletics director at Alabama State; and Vivian Fuller, who has experience as an AD at three Division I programs.

"We were fortunate to have a pool of great applicants," Judson said in an evening news release.

Mathieu holds a 1987 master's degree from Western Illinois and a 1983 bachelor's — which he completed in just three years — from McNeese State.

Before accepting the position at DISD in 1997, Mathieu was best known for his work as executive director of the Sugar Bowl, one of the college football's most profitable postseason games.

During his tenure in the late 1990s, the event's budget ran to more than $18 million annually. The Sugar Bowl's television contract with ABC was a $60-million deal. A sponsorship deal that Mathieu spearheaded with Nokia brought in millions more.

"This is a great opportunity for Grambling State University," Judson said in the release. "This is the kind of organization, leadership and commitment we are looking for at the university."

The athletics director at Grambling would work oversee 18 intercollegiate sports on a total operating sports revenues of upwards of $5.5 million, according to GSU's 2004 budget, the most recent numbers available. Mathieu is expected to start in mid-June.

"I'm excited about it," Mathieu said. "It's a wonderful opportunity at this point in my professional career to take on a new challenge and come back to my home state of Louisiana."

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About time
May 23, 2006

Forgive Troy Mathieu if he sounds a bit relieved. When Mathieu - AD for the sprawling Dallas Independent School District - was selected Tuesday as GSU's new athletics director, pending review by the University of Louisiana System Board, it brought to a close a too-long sixth-month period at Grambling without a full-time AD.

Yes, Mathieu was named a finalist. But that was more than four weeks ago. The wait was, at times, unbearable.

Working as he does in the Dallas market, Mathieu was lashed relentlessly by a large contingency of local media - writers so aggressive that they were calling the DISD's personnel department trying to ferret out information on his possible departure.

When Mathieu was able to talk, finally, about the new job on Tuesday afternoon, it was like a weight had been lifted. He's a guy who's ready to get started.

And now, finally, he can.

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New GSU AD knows prosperity
In previous jobs, Mathieu bettered deals, facilities
May 25, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Troy Mathieu said he leaves his post as athletics director for the Dallas Independent School District with no small measure of pride in helping coaches succeed — despite the obstacles.

"What I was probably most proud of was the way we were able to maintain our competitiveness and improve — even though we were at a disadvantage as an urban district," Mathieu said.

Mathieu, 42, will be recommended as Grambling State's new AD to the school's governing University of Louisiana System Board later this month.

He would replace Willie Jeffries, who resigned last October after less than a year on the job. Duer Sharp, an assistant Southwestern Athletic Conference commissioner, has been serving as interim athletics director ever since.

In many ways, Mathieu's experience in the 49-school inner-city DISD mirrors the financial struggles of the historically black GSU, as this tiny Division I-AA institution attempts to carve out its place among those both larger and richer.

Mathieu is perhaps best known as the architect of the Sugar Bowl's $30 million sponsorship deal with Nokia. He also helped negotiate a $60 million television contract with ABC.

But he later found remarkable success in the highly charged world of Dallas politics, implementing a series of sweeping improvements during a nine-year tenure. Over that time, member schools in the DISD won 11 state titles in team sports.

"We were also able to establish one of the finest urban districts in the country," Mathieu said. "In most metropolitan areas, many families are moving to the suburbs and pouring unlimited money into those newer districts — and in many cases the urban districts were left behind."

Mathieu, an impressive negotiator, would oversee the installation of new tracks across the district and each DISD football program received a $21,000 digital video system before the 2004 campaign. He secured sponsorships to fund $300,000 in new scoreboards for the DISD's main stadiums, as well.

"There was a lack of attention for those students who deserved the right to play at the highest level and in the finest facility," Mathieu said. "We could directly impact that in Dallas. We have rivaled some of the best in the nation, and been able to level the playing field facility-wise."

The Jesse Owens Memorial Athletic Complex, a $40 million facility, was the first multipurpose athletic complex built by the DISD in 40 years. Opened last fall, it includes both the 12,000-seat John Kincaide Stadium and a basketball arena that seats 7,500. A new $1.9 million softball facility opened in 2004.

He paid for it all by flooding the formerly threadbare district with corporate dollars, establishing sponsorship deals worth millions between the DISD and companies including Nike, Bally Total Fitness, Gatorade, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi-Cola, Russell Athletic Corp. and HealthSouth.

"I am sure he will do well," said Grambling resident and fan Paul Taylor. "He's got a history of increasing business sponsorships, and seeking out corporate dollars. We need someone who will beat the pavement trying to get those dollars into such a historic institution like Grambling."

Mathieu also established a series of lucrative special events, with proceeds funneled back into the participating schools. That included the Dallas Morning News Basketball Classic, a prep basketball tripleheader that attracted 17,500 fans and generated more than $200,000 in revenue in its inaugural season.

"We got in the trenches, found out what the needs of the coaches were and administratively removed the obstacles so they could coach," Mathieu said. "Their kids then achieved at the highest level."

Mathieu's record of working closely with coaches has attracted praise from those who would report to him at Grambling.

"I'll meet him when everybody else does," said men's basketball coach Larry Wright. "But I've been impressed with everything I've heard so far about his career."

Mathieu, who also interviewed for the AD position with league foe Texas Southern in 2000, was originally hired away from the Sugar Bowl in November 1997. He briefly left in April 2000 to take over as president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Sports Commission, but returned to the DISD three months later.

Prior to his time in Texas, Mathieu served as assistant executive director and then executive director of the Sugar Bowl, where he established a reputation for fund-raising and marketing. The bowl eventually had working business relationships, beyond the blockbuster naming and broadcast deals with Nokia and ABC, with Delta, Eastman Kodak, Gatorade, Oldsmobile and Wilson Sporting Goods.

Under Mathieu's watch, the Sugar Bowl increased payouts from $8 million to $15.65 million in his first three years. That led to recognition as the 23rd most influential person in college athletics by College Sports Magazine in June 1996.

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A Black and Gold bias?
May 24, 2006

As happy as some Grambling supporters are about Tuesday's naming of Troy Mathieu as athletics director, another faction remains frustrated.

There are those who think the GSU administration has a bias against GSU graduates - a situation, they say, that doomed the candidacy of fellow finalist Patrick Carter, now the athletics director at league foe Alabama State.

Carter, a Grambling native with two degrees from GSU, would have brought both familiarity with the intricacies of the SWAC and critical experience in compliance to a department under investigation by the NCAA for possible irregularities.

So, it's no surprise that the well-liked Carter drew widespread fan support, including an e-mail campaign to the president.

But, all along, it seemed the administration was of the mind that a rainmaker like Mathieu, who has overseen multi-million deals with the Dallas Independent School District and the Sugar Bowl, could buy as much compliance as needed.

Money solves that problem, and most any other.

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At the crossroads
There's plenty to accomplish for GSU's new athletics director
May 28, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Troy Mathieu, perhaps understandably, is unwilling to say too much about what he hopes to do first as athletics director at Grambling State.

After all, where to start in a position that's been vacant for half of the two years since Horace Judson became president at GSU?

"I haven't had a chance to grasp and evaluate where everything is; I know there is a lot waiting on me," Mathieu said. "Maybe a week in, I will be able to digest where we are at."

Duer Sharp, an assistant commissioner with GSU's home conference, has served as interim athletics director since October.

Still, this has been a shockingly uncertain period for an athletics program that was once the model of consistency, having had just five ADs over its first 100 years.

Mathieu said he will take a measured approach.

"There will be assortment of items waiting on me that I will have to tackle," he said. "What you think might be your priority today may change to tomorrow. I want to get in and meet everybody, and then try to figure out the best plan to get us where we need to be."

The temptation, once Mathieu arrives in mid-June, is to encourage him to hit the road and drum up needed sponsorships.

After all, Mathieu's reputation both at the Dallas Independent School District — and, before that, at the Sugar Bowl — was built on landing the corporate whales.

More immediately pressing needs, however, are found closer to home.

GSU's new athletics director steps into a turbulent situation, where job openings have gone unfilled, and many projects are uncompleted.

It's tempting to awe over the shiny football trophies from last year, yet other programs are hovering near the bottom of the league.

Then, he faces an ongoing investigation by the NCAA. Many say a lack of institutional control drew the interest of college athletics' governing body.

"Our new AD should first look to shore-up our deficiencies in NCAA compliance and sports information," said Donavan Simmons, a 1997 Grambling graduate. "Filling all vacant head coaching positions is also a major priority."

Emerging from instability
There are other tangible results from this extended period of instability.

Just this week, Southern — Grambling's principal rival in the Southwestern Athletic Conference — earned its fifth consecutive Commissioner's Cup, recognition for overall excellence in sponsored sports.

Despite its dominance in football, where Grambling went undefeated in SWAC play on the way to the title, its only other championship for the just-ended academic year was in men's outdoor track.

That pushed GSU down to third overall in the Cup race, behind Jackson State.

Mathieu made it clear that he's intends to push for improvement across the athletic spectrum.

"None of this stuff is magic; it's getting people to understand what types of things they are going to be asked to do," he said. "We're going to let people do their jobs. That is, if they can do their jobs. If they can't, then we will go in another direction. It's about their enthusiasm for the task at hand."

Mathieu will also have to prioritize a laundry list of unfinished business within the department.

Several employees, including both men's and women's basketball coaches, worked last season without a contract. A new hoops arena is set to open, but much about that project remains unknown — from how it will be maintained to what it will be named.

Former athletics director Willie Jeffries, who stayed for less than 10 months, announced a scoreboard project last summer. Where that stands is uncertain.

Planning for next year, from promotions to the media guides, has yet to be started.

"Grambling's name is so strong that we need someone to just push that name out there to the consumer, whether it be season-ticket drives or game-day giveaways," said Grambling resident Paul Taylor, an avid supporter of GSU athletics. "He needs to come in and raise the corporate dollars, then raise this athletic program to higher heights."

Setting a mandate
With that much to do, Mathieu must get some help.

And lots of it.

"A successful athletics program, like any other business starts with qualified and competent leadership and staff," Simmons said. "It's been far too long since Grambling has had this."

Among the positions currently posted on the university Web site — many are months old — are compliance officer, sports information director, assistant SID, soccer coach and head trainer.

"I've followed Troy Mathieu's career, and he has done an outstanding job in the Dallas area in generating revenue, facility upgrades and just making certain that those guys are competing at a very high level," said GSU football coach Melvin Spears. "But he'll have come in and lead the effort to fill all these positions first. Many of those are pertinent to move our program forward. We have to have outstanding folks in those positions."

Finally, Mathieu will have to heal any rifts caused by his own selection.

He emerged from a trio of finalists that included a Grambling product, current Alabama State athletics director Patrick Carter.

Some in GSU's tight-knit alumni base tended to side with one of their own, and Mathieu will have sell himself to them as much as he sells Grambling to everybody else.

"I believe Dr. Judson's hire of Mr. Mathieu as AD is in the best interest of GSU," said D'Wayne Priestley, a vocal product from the Dallas area. "It would have been quite popular and endearing to many concerns to hire Mr. Carter; however, I believe Dr. Judson's action placed GSU's best interest first. Now, I hope that Mr. Mathieu can meet the high expectations of many GSU alums and friends, and complement Dr. Judson's vision, as GSU grows into the 21st century."

Mathieu spoke to that challenge this week, when he mentioned an early desire to "friend"-raise rather than fund-raise.

"It's a whole discovery process," Mathieu said. "It's not just running out asking people to give."

Fans like Simmons can't predict where Mathieu will begin his reconstruction project at Grambling. But Mathieu's high-energy style — and a resume filled dotted with initiatives that bolstered both facilities and the bottom line — has them energized.

"Judging by his credentials and experience running an enormous program like that of DISD, I have the utmost confidence that Mathieu will surround himself with the best people for the jobs," said Simmons. "Once this is done, he has shown through his involvement with the Sugar Bowl that the marketing aspect and corporate sponsorship that is so desperately needed will soon follow."

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Pack a lunch
June 04, 2006

Incoming Grambling athletics director Troy Mathieu is tying up loose ends at his old job, a similar position with the Dallas Independent School District.

Meanwhile, new ones are coming unraveled at GSU.

"I'm trying to transfer out properly," Mathieu said, "making sure they know where everything is. We are bringing closure to one school year, and setting up staff training for the following year. A lot of coaches have to get their training during the summer and we have to get it set up."

Mathieu was in Lincoln Parish looking for a new house late last week, even as his complex task at Grambling became somehow more, well, complex. GSU administrators declined to renew contracts for both the softball and the baseball coaches - adding to a long list of department vacancies.

Mathieu is scheduled to start at Grambling on June 19.

He had better pack a lunch. That looks to be a long workday.

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On the upbeat
June 20, 2006

They fired the baseball and softball coaches just days before he was brought in. Yet new Grambling athletics director Troy Mathieu, on his second day at work, is upbeat.

He just got finished filling a staggering eight openings for coaches last year as athletics director of the Dallas Independent School District, a department which suffers from frighteningly similar budget and competitive woes.

Far from overwhelmed, Mathieu is loose and confident.

Sure, he's navigating through a complicated first week of work at the school, which is under the cloud of an on-going NCAA investigation. Yet he's all smiles.

"I'm just getting a sense of the lay of the land," Mathieu said. "But I'm not afraid of a little work."

That attitude - aware, but can do - will bolster Mathieu as he sorts through the mess at Grambling, which has been without a full-time athletics director for about half of president Horace Judson's two-year tenure.

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Grambling AD not easing his way into new job
June 22, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — Troy Mathieu has a copy of the Grambling State athletics department budget, and it's dog eared already.

That reading happens at night, after hours.

Mathieu's days have been spent so far walking the campus, getting an up-close look at what he's got to work with as GSU's new athletics director.

He's also set up meetings with the staff, beginning with those who do the heavy lifting like the maintenance crew.

Talk about working from the ground up.

Mathieu wants buy in from those who currently work at GSU before he gets to work on hiring new ones.

"I know the focus is on getting staffed up," said Mathieu, who started his new position Monday. "But I've got to get a feel for things first."

Posted openings in Mathieu's department include senior women's administrator, sports information director, head soccer coach and assistant athletics director for the sports radio network. Contracts for both the baseball and softball coaches were also not renewed just prior to Mathieu's arrival.

Mathieu arrived with some experience at dealing with such things, having hired eight coaches last year as athletics director at the sprawling Dallas Independent School District.

"You move methodically," Mathieu said. "You just start hiring one at a time. I'd rather make a good hire, than a quick hire, though. I don't want to bring in someone that we regret on the back end."

Outgoing interim AD Duer Sharp, who has returned to his previous assignment in the Southwestern Athletic Conference office, left a dossier of applications - including, Mathieu said, several for baseball coach - and initiated the advertising process.

"I intend to make some calls, as well," Mathieu said.

But first, he'll have to learn all the names, figure out all the nuances of the campus and study hard.

Then, there's the NCAA.

An ongoing investigation into his department by college sports' governing body, launched in January, promises to be an absorbing side issue in this rebuilding effort.

Mathieu said he hasn't had time to review the probe, and didn't yet have a clear grasp of its parameters. But he promised to make that a priority, one that has been added to what seems like an ever-growing list.

Mathieu remains undaunted.

"We'll get in there and get to work," he said. "It might take some time, but we'll get there."

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Count down
July 04, 2006

The coaching searches at Grambling are getting the most attention, but there are stacks of responsibilities teetering all around Troy Mathieu.

For instance, just days into the new AD's tenure, he's had to dive into scheduling for 2007 and beyond. There are current employees without contracts. Work on the football media and recruiting guide hasn't begun.
"It's just punching through the details," said the always-sunny Mathieu. "I'm getting a quick read on the contracts, and getting started on the schedule. Everybody has been really positive. The welcome has been overwhelming. Everywhere I go, people just say: 'Time to get to work.'"

Indeed.

Sixty days. That's how long Grambling has until it's football season opener in Birmingham, Ala., against Hampton. That's to say nothing of the rest of the sports that follow.

Yet Mathieu continues to plow through, based on force of personality alone. He's a marvel to be around - never down and never slowing down, it seems.

Grambling has gotten itself a compliance officer, and a head trainer. Robinson Stadium hasn't looked this polished in July since I've been covering Grambling football. There's also talk of the pending hire of a sports information guy.

Yes, Mathieu just might get there.

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Grambling begins work on hiring coaches
New leaders needed for the university's baseball, soccer and softball programs
July 5, 2006

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING — New Grambling State athletics director Troy Mathieu has settled in, but he's anything but settled.

Awards and framed momentos, including a certificate as a certified athletic administrator, are up behind his desk. Other tasks, like hiring three coaches, look to take a bit longer.

"We haven't set an itinerary (for the hirings)," Mathieu said. "I'm getting familiar with the candidates. There is some strong interest."

Mathieu said he expects to begin callbacks and then scheduling interviews after the holiday. He did not release any names.

Grambling State's openings include those vacated by baseball coach James "Sapp" Randall, softball coach Connie Garcee and first-year women's soccer coach Cesar Martinez.

Randall, an assistant to legendary former coach Wilbert Ellis for 13 seasons, could only manage a 29-80 mark after taking over in 2004. But he continued recruiting throughout what would be a last-place season in the Southwestern Athletic Conference's West division.

Signings included Fort Worth-Polytechnic High pitcher Mario Mendoza and two California prospects, outfielder Richard Amaro of Oxnard Community College and shortstop Brandon Young of Carpinteria High.

"The fear is from parents whose son signed to play here," Mathieu said. "What does this mean to him? I'm here to tell them that we will honor that commitment."

Garcee's team was 3-53 overall in 2005, and last in the West. GSU soccer slumped to 9-12 overall, with a 5-3 SWAC mark, just a year after winning the school's first-ever soccer title under departed coach Matthew Okoh.

"I just wish GSU put as much time and research into this as it does as when selecting a football coach," Grambling fan Paul Taylor said in a Fan Blog at www.thenewsstar.com on Tuesday. "Until they do, the Commissioner's Cup will continue to elude GSU."

Mathieu, who last month took over a program that hasn't won the all-sports league trophy in nine years, knows it's going to take more than bringing in new blood. He's gotten to work on the care and feeding of those already on staff, as well.

Mathieu began with an ambitious schedule of one-on-one meetings with coaches. He said those sessions have gone well.

"I want to let them understand where we're coming from, from the administrative standpoint," Mathieu said. "I'm here to help them accomplish their goals. That's what I am all about. So, I'm going through a process of finding out how we can help, how we can expanded our role and get them there."

Mathieu stresses that he isn't accomplishing anything alone.

"Everywhere here, things are upbeat, positive," Mathieu said. "Everyone wants to see us take it up a notch. The continuing theme has been: How can we help? I couldn't ask for more."

The time that ... Willie Jeffries came to Grambling

Jeffries moves toward GSU AD job
ULS board approval gives S.C. native, football coach one last step toward new post
December 3, 2004

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com

GRAMBLING -- Long-time coach and administrator Willie Jeffries is one step closer to being Grambling State University's new athletics director.

His proposed appointment, as first reported at www.thenewsstar.com, was approved Thursday during a 1:30 p.m. meeting of the University of Louisiana System board's joint athletic and finance committee. A final vote by the board was scheduled for today in Natchitoches.

The 67-year old would come to GSU after serving as South Carolina State University's director of athletic fund-raising since retiring as the school's coach in 2001. He served as athletics director from 1990-92.

Asked by Carl Shetler, the chair of the committee, what it takes to be an effective athletics director, Jeffries said: "The mission of athletics is the same as the overall mission of the university - to provide a quality education. A rising tide raises all boats. Athletics can be a beacon for academics and vice versa."

Jeffries also said he is a stickler for NCAA compliance, and plans to strictly adhere to all rules
set by that governing body, the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the university.

A native of Union, S.C., Jeffries would replace Al Dennis, who was fired on the first day of new president Horace Judson's tenure last July 1. Jeffries and Judson were in meetings until late Thursday afternoon and unavailable for further comment.

Jeffries is best known as a racial pioneer, becoming the first black to coach on the NCAA Division I level when he took over at Wichita State University in 1979. But his coaching career spanned four decades - 19 of which he spent at South Carolina State University, his alma mater. He also coached at Howard for five seasons.

"Willie Jeffries had a long and successful career coaching football," said Robert L. Brown, a 1994 graduate of Grambling State. "I don't know if he has the background to be an athletics director but I hope and trust Dr. Judson knows what he's doing."

Jeffries, who earned a civil engineering degree in 1960, coached at SCSU over two stints - between 1973-78 and 1989-2001. During the first tenure, Jeffries compiled a 50-13-4 record with five Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles.

Committee member Elsie Burkhalter noted his deep ties to South Carolina and asked Jeffries if he intended to relocate and stay awhile in Grambling.

"I'm not going to buy a graveyard plot," Jeffries said, "but we are going to stay for a while."

The candidate appeared Thursday morning on a revised agenda for the ULS board's joint athletic and finance committee. GSU's proposal was not on the ULS Web site Wednesday night.

The committee moved forward a proposed salary of $90,000 for Jeffries, "comparable to director of athletic positions at other institutions with similar size budgets as Grambling's," according to the committee's executive summary. He would begin work Jan. 3, 2005.

South Carolina State's football team faced GSU with some regularity over the years, including consecutive seasons between 1983-90. Jeffries' most significant victory over former GSU coach Eddie Robinson was a 31-27 win in the 1994 Heritage Bowl.

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GSU sports ready for Jeffries' style
December 4, 2004

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com

GRAMBLING -- Those who have worked closest with new Grambling State University athletic director Willie Jeffries hold him in high esteem.

"He's the best man I know … a straight-shooter, a no-nonsense guy," said South Carolina State University coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough.

Pough played for and later replaced the former coach who at age 67 is leaving a quiet administrative position at SCSU to re-enter the high-profile and high-speed world of athletics at GSU.

Jeffries was confirmed Friday by the University of Louisiana System board at a meeting in Natchitoches.

A native of Union, S.C., Jeffries replaces Al Dennis, ired on the first day of GSU president Horace Judson's tenure on July 1. Director of athletic fundraising at SCSU, in Orangeburg, S.C., Jeffries served as the school's football coach for 19 years and athletics director for two.

"With my being involved with fundraising, I learned that I wanted to do more," said Jeffries, slated to begin work at GSU on Jan. 3. "I was excited by the opportunity to come to Grambling, with the great name it has, especially in athletics.

"That helps you recruit students, and then academics benefits, as well."

Jeffries noted GSU's football legacy - a record that includes 20 Southwestern Athletic Conference titles - but also mentioned recent championships by the men's and women's cross country teams and women's soccer team, along with a runner-up performance in women's volleyball.

He said he is committed to success beyond football.

"We're going to be sure to adhere to Title IX," said Jeffries. "We want to give all of the sports an equal chance to succeed."

Pough said Jeffries will benefit Grambling in another critical area.

"Coach may be the best fundraiser we've ever had," Pough said. "He can build relationships and encourage people to support that university. He's a strong enough personality that people enjoy being around him.

"People migrate to him. That translates into good giving. Grambling is getting a steal. I'm actually surprised they were able to lure him away."

Clarence Moore, a 1976 Grambling graduate involved with the search that brought in Judson, is eager to meet his school's new athletics director.

"I will trust the administration and its decision on having chosen the best man for the position," said Moore.

Jeffries was the first black football coach on the NCAA Division I-A level in 1979 at Wichita State.

Jeffries, who earned a civil engineering degree in 1960, coached at SCSU over two stints - winning five Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships. He compiled a 50-13-4 record from 1973-78, then returned in 1989 and led SCSU to a 78-64 mark over 13 seasons.

He served as both football coach and athletics director for two seasons, but found the workload prohibitive.

"After two years," Jeffries said, "I had to give up one of them."

Jeffries also coached at Howard University in Washington D.C., where he won a sixth MEAC title and the Bisons' first ever.

He faced former GSU coach Eddie Robinson several times, including a 1994 South Carolina State win in the Heritage Bowl.

"First of all, I knew a lot about Grambling," said Jeffries. "The administrative team on board now just influenced me greatly, the style of operation and the way they do things."

After working at the high school level, Jeffries began his college coaching career as an assistant at North Carolina A&T under Hornsby Howell in 1968. He then joined Johnny Majors' staff at Pittsburgh in 1972, where he served as an assistant for one year before returning to South Carolina State in 1973.

Jeffries' overall coaching mark was 179-132-6, with a record of 128-77-4 at his alma mater. He also sent a number of players into the NFL, including Donnie Shell, Orlando "Zeus" Brown, Jumpy Geathers, Harry Carson, Robert Porcher, Chartric Darby, Dexter Clinkscale and Anthony Cook.

Jeffries was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the 2002 Black Coaches Association and was featured on ESPN's "SportsCentury" as part of Black History Month that same year. A powerful speaker, he was featured at former GSU coach Doug Williams' first football banquet and at the SWAC's season-opening media event in 2002.

Also in the running
Grambling State University received board approval on Friday for the appointment of Willie Jeffries as its athletics director. Other reported finalists:

· Troy Mathieu, assistant superintendent for athletics for the Dallas Independent School District. A Lake Charles native, he was executive director of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans from 1993-96 and was an applicant for the SWAC commissioner job.

· Clarence Underwood, who served as assistant athletics director, senior associate AD and then AD at Michigan State between 1990-2001. He also served as the deputy commissioner of the Big Ten. Underwood still works for MSU as a consultant.

· Wilbert Curtis Williams, former athletics director at Alabama State, Albany State and Elizabeth City State. He's now a department head at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

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New GSU AD brings own light touch
January 24, 2005

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING -- New Grambling State athletics director Willie Jeffries could be forgiven if he took a workman-like attitude about his first days on campus.

There was much to be done, not the least of which was hiring a football coach - a figure that has always played an enormous role in the school's public persona.

"When I first got here, it was tough," said Jeffries, a long-time coach at South Carolina State. "There were concerns to be addressed with each of the 18 sports. People had problems here or there. It's been a busy first part of my tenure."

Yet Jeffries, quick with the compliment or joke, remade a usually staid process in his own easy-going image.

A Thursday news conference to introduce Melvin Spears as GSU's successor to Doug Williams was punctuated by laughter, most of it created by something Jeffries said or did. His opening remarks centered on a well-timed memory of coaching legend Eddie Robinson.

"You all remember Coach Rob carrying that briefcase," said Jeffries, who faced Robinson many times over the years. "All the young coaches thought if they carried one, they'd win as many games as he did. But -"

Here, Jeffries paused for effect.

"They didn't do that."

Jeffries even brought a yellow flag, similar to the ones carried by game officials, that he said he'd throw if things went too long.

Moments like that are familiar to South Carolina State coach Oliver "Buddy" Pough, who played on Jeffries' first team at SCSU and later succeeded him on the bench.

"Everybody he's come in contact with has been impressed with Coach over the years," Pough said. "People enjoy being around him."

Approved by the University of Louisiana System board on Dec. 3, Jeffries arrived on campus a month later. He had been SCSU's football coach for 19 seasons, athletics director for two, and director of athletic fund-raising since 2001. Jeffries was also the first black to head a Division I-A program, coaching at Wichita State in the late 1970s.

That legendary career was surely helped along by Jeffries' personal likeability.

"There's a reason Coach Jeffries has been able to do all those great things: He's a great man," Spears said. "He makes the tough calls, but he's still got a way of making people feel comfortable."

Spears got into the spirit of things late during Thursday's event.

Asked about next year's Bayou Classic, he said: "We're not in the business of predictions. But one person who was talking the other day said it best: For 57 years, we 'Robbed' them. For six years, we 'Doug' them. Hopefully, for the next 20 years, we'll 'Spear' them."

Once again, laughter rang out. Jeffries, smiling broadly, was clearly in his element.

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First-year GSU AD Jeffries to resign
September 28, 2005

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com

GRAMBLING - Grambling State University athletics director Willie Jeffries will resign from the school Friday after less than a year on the job.

"I am leaving because of personal situations involving my family," said Jeffries, who became GSU's fifth athletics director last January after a long tenure in athletics at South Carolina State. "I just felt it would be much better to be in South Carolina."

Jeffries, 68, declined to elaborate on the family situations.

He first revealed his plans to leave in talks with South Carolina news reporters after a speaking engagement - something Jeffries told GSU president Horace Judson that he regretted in a meeting Tuesday.

"The articles that quoted me as saying I was leaving when I had not had a chance to make the president knowledgeable of it, that was something I needed to apologize for," Jeffries said. "I had to go in and apologize and straighten that out."

Three separate newspaper articles over the weekend quoted Jeffries as saying he would leave GSU when his one-year contract is up on Jan. 3, 2006.

As word spread through the Internet and online message boards, Jeffries cut short his trip and returned to GSU to sort through the issue with the school's administration. He met with Judson on Monday and again Tuesday.

By the time Jeffries emerged, his last day at Grambling had been moved up to this week.

Judson, in a news release Tuesday afternoon, said: "It is unfortunate that he is leaving. For the short time he was here, Coach Jeffries made a strong contribution to our athletic programs. We are as sad to see him go as we were delighted in having him come. We wish him and his family all the best."

Jeffries replaced Al Dennis, who was fired on July 1, 2004 - Judson's first day on the job. Dennis had served for four years, following such GSU legends as Robert Piper and Fred Hobdy into the AD chair.

Jeffries is best known on the national level as a racial pioneer, becoming the first black to coach on the NCAA Division I level when he took over at Wichita State University in 1979. But his coaching career spanned four decades - 19 of which he spent at South Carolina State University, his alma mater.

That long relationship with SCSU and the town of Orangeburg, S.C., continued with regular visits back home throughout his nine-month tenure so far at GSU.

Jeffries' most recent trip, last week to speak to the Orangeburg Touchdown Club, was covered by two newspapers, The (Orangeburg, S.C.) Times and Democrat and The (Columbia, S.C.) State.

Writers Bob Gillespie of The State and Thomas Grant of the hometown Times and Democrat both had direct comments from Jeffries saying he will leave GSU when his one-year contract expires.

Jeffries, who was hired on Jan. 3, 2005, is quoted by both as saying: "I think we've accomplished what we needed."

He said on Tuesday that local reporters simply overheard comments about leaving.

"I was talking to one of my high school classmates," said Jeffries. "He kept asking me when I was coming back. I mentioned that we would be back soon - not knowing that one of the reporters was getting a scoop. I wouldn't have discussed that without talking to the president of Grambling."

Gillespie, who has covered Jeffries for nearly 30 years in South Carolina, stood by his story on Tuesday. Grant did the same.

Jeffries reiterated that he regretted the way the news leaked out.

"I know it caught (President Judson) by surprise, and I deeply regret that it happened," said Jeffries. "All of my days at Grambling have been good days. Everybody has been fair. I felt good about being at Grambling, because it's going in a positive direction. I wish Dr. Judson and the entire Grambling family the best."

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Jeffries couldn't shake South Carolina ties
September 30, 2005

By Nick Deriso
nderiso@thenewsstar.com
GRAMBLING -- His greatest successes, the six Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference titles and two Black National Championships, came in a most unexpected place.

Willie Jeffries took over at South Carolina State five years after one of the seminal moments in the torrid fight for racial justice in the 1960s, the Orangeburg Massacre.

Policemen fired into a crowd of protesters at the segregated All-Star Bowling Alley on campus that Feb. 8, 1968, killing three students and injuring 27 others. The nine patrolmen responsible were charged, but all were acquitted.

Even so, the Orangeburg area was home to Jeffries, and he's always been fiercely loyal to it.

Over years, and then decades, this similarly congenial coach would forge ahead in the deeply embedded footsteps of Grambling State's Eddie Robinson, winning games and lifelong friends from both the local white and black communities.

He did it with likeable banter, a hard-nosed style of coaching - and a playbook so conservative that he once said he "didn't even pass on the interstate."

But Jeffries also accomplished something that Robinson didn't. He left for a time to travel in Division I-A circles - including stints at Pittsburgh and Wichita State.

That said, he always came back to his native South Carolina.

Just as he will again.

Jeffries abruptly resigned after published reports from his home state last week revealed that he would leave - less than a year since taking over as athletics director at GSU.

The return shouldn't come as any surprise, only the time frame.

Twice Jeffries was offered a position with the Atlanta Falcons while coaching at SCSU in the late 1970s, but he always seemed reluctant to leave Orangeburg.

Maybe, as with Grambling, that's because it didn't work out the same when he was away.

Accusations of recruiting violations dogged Jeffries 25 years ago, first at Wichita and then in his next stop at Howard.

These alleged missteps, back then, were usually chalked up as another in the struggles of old-fashioned black school administrators who hadn't quite caught up with the big business that college football had become. Robinson, who Jeffries faced often and admired always, had some of the same problems.

Each time Jeffries eventually returned, perhaps was destined to return, to South Carolina State.

Just as he will again.

In fact, Jeffries' quick tenure at Grambling has a ringing sense of familiarity. The only thing that changes in this storyline is the ever-shortening time away.

He graduated at SCSU in 1960, then returned in 1973 to coach. He left in 1979 for I-A, only to come back in 1989. He arrived in Grambling only nine months ago.

He'd resign after making the mistake with those hometown reporters of telling too much - too much about his own fatigue at taking this job and too much about the inner workings of the institution.

His colloquial sensibilities let him down, and left damaging impressions.

Jeffries mentioned, for instance, "a financial crisis involving auditing woes" at Grambling, quoting Judson as saying that "we almost closed the school last year."

GSU was, in fact, cleared through consecutive audits in 2002 and again in 2003 by the Southern Association of Colleges of Schools, a review board that originally placed the institution on probation in 2001. All of those irregularities came before Judson took over.

There was much more, including talk of leaving when his contract was up - something Jeffries hadn't informed his boss about.

It was almost like he was stuck in those days when local reports didn't immediately vibrate across the World Wide Web. As if this wouldn't get back.

What was he doing in South Carolina anyway? Sure it was Grambling's bye week, but the Tigers' next trip was to Dallas - a key alumni and recruiting base - to play Prairie View A&M.

Talks were on-going on where the Bayou Classic, GSU's signature cash-cow rivalry game, would be played since the Superdome has been damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Basketball season is just weeks away.

He apparently couldn't resist the emotional tug of South Carolina.

Still, there was never any question about Jeffries' open-hearted enthusiasm at GSU, about his upbeat attitude, about his easy way with a turn of phrase.

So short a stay has certainly robbed us of hundreds, maybe thousands, of one-liners and throwback talltales. I'll miss that.

Jeffries' going-away at Grambling was different than what would eventually resemble a kind of coronation upon leaving as coach of South Carolina State in 2001.

Back then, there was a trio of Willie Jeffries Days in Maryland, Virginia and, of course, in Orangeburg. Atlanta and Columbia bestowed keys to the city. He was grand marshal of the SCSU homecoming parade.

Former players, like NFL stars Robert Porcher and Jumpy Geathers, chipped in for a Taurus - painted Bulldog burgundy, of course, after the school he always loved first.

This time, today, there will be less fanfare. And, perhaps there shouldn't be.

Not because the people of northeastern Louisiana didn't love Jeffries. It's just that his loyalties
were, and clearly are, bound up in his own history.

At one point one of those articles from last week says Jeffries referred "to S.C. State as 'we.'"

I don't know if he ever really left.

NICK DERISO is sports editor at The News-Star, 411 N. 4th St., Monroe, La. 71201. Contact him at 362-0234 or at nderiso@thenewsstar.com

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Grambling State's next step
September 30, 2005

Grambling State athletics director Willie Jeffries is returning to South Carolina today, where he led the S.C. State football team over two stints.

The last time Grambling was without an athletics director under president Horace Judson, after Al Dennis was let go in the summer of 2004, vice president of finance Billy Owens handled much of the duties. School officials are now mulling an interim or temporary replacement, with an announcement coming as early as next week.

The 2004 search took five months, and other finalists included:

· Troy Mathieu, assistant superintendent for athletics for the Dallas Independent School District.

· Clarence Underwood, a former AD at Michigan State who also served as the deputy commissioner of the Big Ten.

· Wilbert Curtis Williams, former athletics director at Alabama State, Albany State and Elizabeth City State.

Among those with GSU ties to be mentioned were former women's basketball coach Patricia Bibbs, Alabama State athletics director Patrick Carter, former school president Steve Favors and Laronica Conway, assistant commissioner of the Southeastern Conference.

- Nick Deriso, nderiso@thenewsstar.com