Big-name football staff in place at small Jackson college

Posted 4:13PM on Thursday 7th July 2005 ( 19 years ago )

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) For such a small school, Millsaps has some pretty big names on its coaching staff. A former Southeastern Conference coach of the year is the defensive coordinator. The older brother of one-time NFL co-MVP Steve McNair is in charge of quarterbacks. With ex-Alabama head coach Mike DuBose taking over the defense this year and Fred McNair back for a second season of schooling the quarterbacks, the private Methodist college of about 1,200 students is trying to build a competitive program. ``At every opportunity that we've had to hire a coach, we went out there and identified the best coach that would fit the needs that we had,'' head coach David Saunders said. ``We've been fortunate to attract those high-quality coaches.'' DuBose, who was hired in April and has yet to get up-close-and-personal with the Majors on the practice field, said enthusiasm shown by his new boss enticed him to return to the college game after a five-year absence. ``It starts at the top,'' DuBose said. ``The guy at the top is excited, and he's driven and he is committed, and you know good things are about to happen. It doesn't start at the bottom it starts the top and goes down.'' Saunders is counting on his high-profile assistants to help him reverse the program's fortunes. The Majors haven't appeared in the Division III playoffs in 30 years, and they've had just one winning season since winning the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1996. Millsaps was 1-9 in Saunders' first year in 2003. Last year, the Majors lost their regular-season finale and finished 4-5. It was a rough coaching initiation for McNair, one of the most prolific passers in Arena Football League history and one of kid brother Steve's predecessors at Alcorn State. Fred McNair, 36, was hired weeks before the 2004 season to replace ex-Mississippi quarterback Romaro Miller, who quit in August to continue his playing career in the Canadian Football League. Millsaps averaged a league-worst 113 yards passing last year. But Saunders said the results will improve as the big-name staff attracts gifted athletes despite not being able to offer athletic scholarships. ``That foundation, No. 1, is the players you have to have talented players that expect to compete for, and win, championships,'' Saunders said. ``To get those players, you have to have a great coaching staff.'' DuBose, 52, is returning to college football several years after a rough exit from Alabama. He coached the Crimson Tide to the SEC championship and an Orange Bowl berth in 1999 and was the league's coach of the year. But in 2000, he was fired in the wake of a losing record, an NCAA investigation and a sexual harassment complaint. He was out of football in 2001, then coached high school ball in Alabama from 2002-04 before coming to Millsaps. ``We're just excited that we have the opportunity to bring a coach of that caliber to our staff,'' Saunders said. The defensive line coach for Alabama's national championship team in 1992, DuBose hopes to bring that same philosophy to a Millsaps defense that last year ranked second in the conference and allowed 325 yards per game. ``The same things win it doesn't matter where you coach them,'' DuBose said. ``The game's the same. It doesn't matter where you're at.'' (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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