With the dismissal of head coach Eric Dooley, the search for the next man to lead Southern has begun in earnest.
Here are some names that should be considered to lead one of the HBCU blue blood programs.
Shaun Gibbs – Fort Valley State University
In two years at Fort Valley, Gibbs has put together a 15-5 overall record and a 10-4 mark in the SIAC. Only Benedict and Tuskegee have won at a higher clip over that span. The 8-2 record he notched in his first season was the best record for the program since it went 8-4 in 2012. Gibbs has 19 seasons of coaching experience as an assistant head and position coach at Grambling, North Carolina Central, and North Carolina A&T.
Sam Shade – Miles College
In just his second season, Shade had transformed a 1-9 punching bag that lacked talent into a 7-3 team that was in the mix for a slot in the SIAC Championship game. Under Shade, the offense has made a leap from the second-worst in the SIAC — at just 14.2 points per game — to the fourth-best at 30.3 points per contest this past season. The Golden Bears’ defense rose from seventh in the previous year to the conference’s second-most stingy unit this year. Prior to assuming the Miles job, Shade had previous coaching experience as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns, Georgia State, and Samford University.
Chenis Berry – Benedict College head coach
the hottest name in HBCU Football, Coach Berry has recorded a 27-5 overall and a 17-4 SIAC record in three seasons. The past two seasons, Benedict has blitzed through the SIAC with back-to-back undefeated regular seasons, the first in school history. The Tigers have earned their second consecutive NCAA Division II Playoff berth and an opening-round bye. Berry also has ties to Southern, having previously coached there for seven seasons at the university, serving the last four as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator.
Jabbar Juluke – Florida – Assistant head coach and running backs coach
Juluke is well-known around The Bluff as a standout Southern safety in the early 1990s, playing a big role on the Jaguars’ 1993 Black National Championship team.
After his stint at Southern, Juluke developed himself into one of the best running back coaches in America, working with the likes of Leonard Fournette and Derrius Guice at LSU. After a stint at Texas Tech, where he helped the Red Raiders average 140.9 years per game in 2017, Juluke moved to Louisiana, where he helped the Ragin’ Cajuns establish a top-30 rushing offense. In 2019, Juluke was named Running Backs Coach of the Year by Football Scoop. He is currently assistant head coach and running back coach at Florida under Billy Napier.
