Marshall Faulk stood at the podium on Monday afternoon, embracing what he called both a calling and a challenge at Southern University.
The New Orleans native made it clear that leading the Jaguars — his first-ever head coaching stint — was the only way his coaching journey could truly begin.
But before he ever made his first statement as the 22nd Southern head coach, Faulk was introduced by former Jaguar greats Avery Johnson and Aeneas Williams, who encapsulated just how much it meant that the Pro Football Hall of Famer would be leading the football team.
“For me to have my first head coaching job in this state that gave me everything and provided everything for me. It means the world to me to be here,” Faulk said. “I cannot have it be any other way.”
Message of expectations and winning
Faulk wasted little time setting the bar high, repeating a simple mantra: “Winners win.” He told fans there is no fear in him when it comes to the expectations attached to his name and Southern’s tradition, promising a program that finds ways to win at every level.
He pledged to deliver a team that plays with heart and passion. Faulk said he wants fans to look forward not only to winning, but to dominating.
“We are committed to attacking our opponent’s strength,” he said about a program that went 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the SWAC this season. “We want to beat them. We want to beat them when they’re at their best, playing their best, because we’re going to be our best.”
Faulk also leaned into the modern realities of college football, directly addressing name, image and likeness and facilities. He acknowledged that Southern hired him in part to help in those areas and said he intends to fully leverage his own name to attract corporate partners and donors to the program.
“Whatever I can do to help to fundraise here, I’m [going to] do it,” he said, stressing that his responsibility goes beyond schemes and practices.
The Marshall Faulk era is officially underway.#GoJags | #SouthernIsTheStandard | #ProwlOn | #WeAreSouthern pic.twitter.com/NRMhV0Neuk
— Southern University Jaguars (@SouthernUsports) December 2, 2025
Why Southern, and why now
Faulk made it clear he had other options, including staying at Colorado, where he spent the 2025 season as running backs coach under Deion Sanders.
He said he was comfortable there but has “never done well in life when comfortable,” explaining that taking on Southern’s rebuilding job is intentionally uncomfortable—and that he likes it that way.
He credited Williams and Johnson with “selling” him on the job through years of friendship and recent conversations about what his presence would mean to them and the university.
From Colorado assistant to possible Southern game-changer
Faulk arrives in Baton Rouge with just one season of college coaching experience, but with a résumé that includes an NFL MVP award, a Super Bowl ring and a bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Southern officials hope his stature and connections can help transform a program that struggled back to winning.
Athletic director Roman Banks described wanting a “game-changer” capable of elevating Southern in an era defined by NIL, the transfer portal and facility arm races, and early indications are that Faulk’s hiring has already sparked new conversations about upgrades.
“Being able to generate dollars as he’s been able to do for me already, y’all,” Banks said. “(I’ve) been able to go and get some phone calls that we’ve never been able to get to upgrade locker room facilities to make sure we have proper nourishment for our student athletes. So this hire is also about a CEO that can help the athletic (department) take this whole program to another level and help our alums and our supporters to be proud and be able to go get the best student-athlete that we possibly get and graduate them so they can be successful in life.”
Faulk said roughly 90 percent of his coaching staff is in place, with some potential carryover from Colorado, signaling that the overhaul of Southern football is already underway heading into the 2026 season.
For “20-some years,” he said, agents, friends and coaches told him he needed to be on a sideline, and when he went to Colorado with Deion Sanders, he realized, “Wow, there’s something here for me to teach and to make sure that the next generation is playing the game the right way.”
Now, he plans to turn that realization into reality at Southern by doing something “extremely unique” in his relationship with players: “I remember being that kid sitting in there and listening to some coach talk to me. I’m [going to] have a conversation with them. They’re [going to] get the right to ask me questions. They need to know me.”
